Resistance
by CrAzY-SiLLy-Me
Summary: ROxNaruto AU SasuSaku Childhood Sweethearts. Lovers. Soon-to-be a Married Couple. What if death prevents him from making them reach the forever they've always wanted?
1. Redemption

**Resistance**

Wind – the element that he learned to trust when it comes to taking action. It was also the very presence of it did his skills in handling fire grew stronger, and it is the wind that reminded him of his past, of his broken promise to an important person in his life.

"_It's time." _He opened his eyes, onyx orbs narrowly looking down at the scene before him as he stood tall and proud on the rooftop of an abandoned and nearly broken inn. The red scarf, that was around his neck - covering his nose and mouth, flowed with the wind's direction. His all-black attire hiding him from the vision of the people below, making him blend in with the dark sky.

Wasting no time, he put on the fox mask he held to cover his face, hiding his identity. With a swift movement of his arms, the blade of his katar on each hand came out with a sharp sound, the fine and deadly pointed end of it reflecting the moon's light, as he stood and glared at his target, waiting for the right time to dash and make a quick kill.

The job of being an assassin, an assassin cross at that, had no need for human emotions. When a client pays and orders you to kill someone, you must do it, no matter who the victim will be. And so, when he had decided that now was the right moment to rush in and go for the kill, he bent down a bit and jumped, activating his cloaking skill as soon as he landed on the ground, and wasted no second to rush in and perform a "Soul Destroyer" attack on his prey._**  
**_

* * *

_**Chapter 1: Redemption**_

"Oi, wake up."

Sighing, he obeyed the command and sat up, staring coldly at his little brother who stood before him.

"Father is looking for you."

"What for?" he asked, standing up and putting on the rest of his assassin clothes. "You're there anyway." He added.

"You're the first born, Itachi." was the answer. "You should know your responsibility to the clan."

Itachi raised an amused brow at his sibling. "And this is coming from the one who used to defy the clan's rule? Or more specifically, father?"

"Shut up." He snapped, his fists clenching at the memory. "Do _not_ bring _that_ up, _again_."

A smirk. "Why, Sasuke?" Itachi countered in an amused tone. "I have every right to do so." And he poked the younger teen's forehead.

Sasuke just scowled and lowered his head, stopping in his tracks as Itachi moved on, not really minding whether Sasuke, who was currently deep in thought, was following or not. It was only when his communicator on his right arm beeped did he snap, and when he read the incoming message, he didn't know whether he should be thrilled with happiness, or wallow in guilt.

"Sasuke..?" Itachi tuned to his sibling when he heard the beep.

"Tell father a client just contacted." He answered, when Itachi gave a questioning look. Not waiting for the older one to reply, Sasuke turned to the side and took off.

The meeting with the clan will have to wait, for right now, something big just came up, and there was no way he'd throw away this chance. Besides, they know that clients are important.

* * *

Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the old woman who called herself a whitesmith, when it was obvious that she was just a blacksmith. And she swore, that those clothes did not look very appealing on the woman before her, for the supposedly cleavage that was being shown, looked like… well, let's not go there.

"_I'm a priestess for goodness sake!" _she thought, sighing. "Is there really no way for you to lower the price..?" she asked in a polite way, but the blacksmith only snapped rudely at her.

"That's already cheap! Besides, this headgear isn't something you can just pick up from the ground! This is VERY rare! Not to mention, slotted!"

Another frown cascaded upon her lips. _"Yeah, of course, it's slotted. That's the reason why I want it so badly, but come on! Five hundred million zennies?!"_

"Well, I'll have to think about it then…" she answered, earning a snort from the seller. _"Geez, old geezer! Pfft. My money doesn't even reach three hundred million!" _she remembers a paladin friend of hers saying that she can reach up to a billion zennies if she would only charge each heal, resurrection and warp portals requested of her.

"_Seriously, that may be true but I vowed not to be corrupt!" _mumbling incoherent words, she continued browsing through every cart in hopes of finding an affordable yet up-to-date equipment. Unlike some people, she'd very much save money for the future instead of spending them all at once just to boast and look good.

"These vendors are just too…" she stopped herself, not wanting to curse. "Forgive me, my Father, for I have thought of bad things about your children." She prayed, making a sign of the cross before beginning to walk around aimlessly again, unaware of someone eyeing her every move from a higher ground.

"She hasn't changed a bit…" he murmured with a small smirk as he stood up from his one-kneel position and jumped near her from behind, gathering up the courage to talk to her.

"Sakura."

She froze. She doesn't know anyone who knew her who had that kind of voice. So deep and rich, the way her name rolled off this stranger's tongue gave her chills. And yet, there was something she felt, a feeling of familiarity around him, at the same time, an aura that sent her warning messages.

She attempted to turn to greet the person who called her, but he quickly grabbed her shoulders to prevent her from seeing him just yet. He smirked. "Relax, _gaki_."

A vein popped at the side of her head, but still, at the mention of that _blasted_word, her lips curved up to a smile.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Hn. Right you are."

"It_is_you! Come on, let me see!" she made a move to turn but he leaned closer to her ear to whisper.

"Don't. Not yet."

His breath against her skin gave her another goose bump, causing her face to turn red.

"I have something to tell you first…"

His tone – there was something wrong with it. It sounded pained and apologetic.

"Okay, but after you tell me, let me see you!"

"Hn. Always the impatient one." he murmured, before his smirk turned to a frown. "I remember meeting someone back then, who made a promise to an important person in his life." He began.

Sakura blinked. "This sounds tragic…"

Sasuke shook his head, managing to give a small, amused grin at her comment. "Well, he did his best to keep that vow, yet the problem is - when they were ready to become novices, his family had decided to move back to their hometown."

She nodded, so he continued.

"He refused to go back, but he had no choice, so he made another promise, that he will keep his word, and they will see each other again." He gave a silent sigh. "But his family didn't want the kind of job he swore he would take for the person he cares so much."

She could feel how her eyes were beginning to water. Somehow, his story was affecting her, but before she can make assumptions, she needed to hear everything first.

"Still, he was stubborn, and ignored all the snide comments he kept getting, not minding when the other novices from their family refused to invite him to form a party, he never even bothered to plead or ask to join one, he went solo. His mother kept cheering him on, and that was enough for him. Yet…"

"..?" she was tempted to look at him. "Yet what..?"

"When someone insulted his mother, he gave in." he sighed. "Actually, he only did when other people began to question his family and the clan he belongs to. They were, after all, a well known kin, a race of assassins and ninjas." He paused for a moment before continuing. "The thing is, when he was ready to take the first task for first jobs, the elders of the clan, including his father, had said right to his face how he was such a disgrace. And even if he ignored it, he knew that his mother would, in a way, pay the price."

Sakura couldn't take it, as tears fell from her eyes that she quickly turned to face him, seeing her childhood friend, the only person whom she ever shared so much secrets and trusted the most was standing before her. Not as a knight or a crusader that he promised to be, but instead, as an assassin cross, a rebirth job – a higher level than the mentioned two. He may not be what she would've hoped he will, but she couldn't choose his fate for him. And after everything he's been through, she understood why he had to break that vow.

"I'm sorry." He finished. "But…" his eyes closed as his head lowered. "I didn't keep my word."

The only answer he got from her was a whisper of his name before she broke down and pulled him into a hug.

"Sakura..?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry!"

He looked at her before softening his gaze, wrapping his arms around her waist as she sobbed onto him, not entirely sure what to say. He went through a lot, just to keep his promise. And even if he didn't really fulfill it, she was fine with that. At least, he will no longer be called a shame to his family; that was what mattered right now.

Besides, to her, what's important is that they met each other after so many years.

"I missed you…" she whispered, yet he heard it.

* * *

"So, when are you planning to become a high priestess?" he asked while they strolled around the fields of Prontera, glancing at her when she didn't reply for a moment.

Sakura merely smiled at him and shrugged.

"I'm still not ready or qualified."

"Hn. Need help?"

She looked at him and giggled. "I'll be fine; I want to reach that level on my own, like you."

"If you're sure…" he turned back to the front as they chatted and walked at the same time.

They hadn't even noticed how the day was slowly turning to night.

"Say, Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"…Do you, you know, kill just about anyone?" she asked hesitantly, her back turned to him. She never could imagine her childhood friend, someone she knew who protected others, killing anyone so mercilessly. But he was an assassin, and it was his job to eliminate. Yet she couldn't help but want to know if he really _does_kill anyone without any hesitation.

"Aa." He answered, watching her movement. "It's in our code not to refuse a client, although, I do bend it a bit." He smirked when she turned to gaze at him with questioning eyes, silently asking him to elaborate on that. "I choose my clients. If they contact me and request for a kill, I'll only accept the job once I know the reason they want the target dead. If it's for a good cause, fine. But if it's not, I end up lying, saying that I'm fully booked."

She frowned a bit at the idea of him killing, whether innocent or not. But at least, somewhere deep inside of him, he was still the same Sasuke she knew, and that was good enough.

Sakura had to sigh and smile at him. She's always admired him; for his bravery and determination. Those were the reasons why she wanted him to become a knight or a crusader, because she will be pursuing the path of the priestess, and those two jobs are compatible for each other, since both protected and saved lives.

"_But…"_she still had her smile on, knowing that Sasuke hates it when she's sad. _"Can the follower of God, such as myself, have a possible future with the shadow of death?" _she eyed Sasuke.

"Well, it's getting late, I have to head home. I still have a big day ahead of me tomorrow. What with demands of tanking and leveling up to reach the rebirth job."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he said with a small grin. "But seriously, if you need any help, just give me a beep."

"Will do."

Before they parted ways, Sakura gave him another embrace, not knowing when they will see each other again, since they both had different jobs and different ways. That was another reason why she badly wanted him to be a knight or crusader - because, at least, they'll see each other everyday in the Castle of Prontera, or the church.

"Ja." Sakura turned to leave.

"Sakura!"

She stopped and turned, catching what he tossed her. She looked down at her hands and was surprised to see the item she wanted to buy earlier.

"Ja." He then jumped off towards the roof, leaving her standing there, staring at where he once stood before giving a small smile. "Ja…" she then attached the sohee bells to each side of her head, acting as a ribbon or clip accessory. She then turned to go back home, her inner giggling.

"_Sasuke-kun's grown hotter!"_

* * *

He felt different as he jumped from roof to roof back to his clan's territory. He couldn't decide if it was because of seeing Sakura again after how many years - or if it was due to the fact that he had finally told her that he had broken his promise and that she understood and took it lightly.

"_I need to make it up to her…" _he thought, stopping near the entrance of his family's place. _"But how..?" _and he stepped in.

Sasuke halted upon having felt a strange feeling in his guts. Slowly, he scanned the area – the vicinity looked dark and deserted, as if an ambush was going to happen. The sun hasn't even completely set, yet the place looked like everyone's asleep. "Unless…" he murmured to himself, closing his eyes and opening them to reveal his clan's specialty: the Sharingan.

"What the-?!" he barged inside the houses of his clansmen, red eyes widening at the sight of how bloody walls and corpses greeted him. He started sprinting from one house after another, seeing the same scene before him. Dead Assassin crosses and Ninjas were all that was reflected in his eyes. "No way…" he gritted his teeth and rushed to his own home, searching behind every door for his parents and older brother.

"Shit." He cursed, seeing the place empty. He was down to the last room, and he could feel his heart beating fast.

Gathering enough courage, he opened the door and saw his father's corpse on the floor, over his mother's body.

"…Tou-san..?" he managed to say in a weak voice. His eyes caught a twitch from his mother's fingers that he quickly rushed to the fallen bodies of his parents and pulled his father's lifeless physique away from his mom's. "Ka-chan!" he cried out, seeing that she was covered in both her own blood and her husband's. "Sasuke…" she coughed out, sitting up with his help as he let her lean to him for support.

"Who did this?!" he demanded, helping her up to her feet, noting how the female ninja needed medical attention. Fast.

"It was…" she trailed off, feeling drained from her injuries.

"We'll talk later. Right now, we need to get you some help." He bent down slightly to carry his mother in his arms before dashing out of the room and out of the clan's territory. _"Wherever Itachi is, I hope he's okay."_ His feet led him to a welcoming home, and he hesitated at first, thinking if this was the right way or not. His eyes glanced at his mother, and he decided to just knock on the door. He can explain later, for sure.

"_Now I owe her twice…" _he thought, setting his mother down for a while, cursing when droplets of rain began to pour. "Of all the rotten luck…" he knocked recalling that she lived alone now, since her parents had agreed and remained in their old house.

"Coming!" her voice echoed from the inside. When the door opened, he took his mother and looked at Sakura in the eye. "I need your help."

Sakura didn't say anything upon seeing Mikoto in Sasuke's arms, bleeding. She stepped aside, a signal to let him in and he entered, with her closing the door behind her and rushing to heal the ninja. "What happened?" she asked, expertly getting rid of the fatal wounds first before healing the rest. She looked up at Sasuke, seeing how his bangs shadowed his eyes and his fists tightly clenched. "Sasuke..?"

"My clan was massacred…"

"What?!" She got up after making sure Mikoto no longer had any injuries. "Who killed them? Are you hurt?" she asked so many questions, not giving him a chance to answer as she examined his body to see if there was anything she should heal. His hands grabbed her wrists, stopping her from turning his body around to double check some possible wounds. "I'm fine." He said, looking at her in the eye, unaware of how she was feeling uncomfortable under his obsidian gaze. "Can you do me a favor? Can you take care of my mom first? I have to visit a friend."

She nodded slowly, silently relieved that he finally tore his gaze from her to his mother. "I'll come back as soon as I can, if anyone asks for my whereabouts or my mom's, come up with an alibi."

"Okay."

"Remember, anyone can be a suspect for my clan's death."

Again, Sakura nodded, giving him a worried look when he opened the back window, checking if the coast was clear. "And Sakura," she blinked as he slightly turned his head to her and gave a small smile. "Thanks." And he left.

* * *

He could only hope that his friend's body wasn't here as they searched for survivors or at least clues that could lead to the killer's whereabouts. This was a tough investigation, and he wondered who would do such a thing like this: eliminating one of the powerful and prominent clans in Midgard.

"Neji."

He looked up and spotted his uncle, Hyuuga Hiashi, the leader of their clan who are full of champion class jobs.

"I'm not sure if this is good news or bad news to you," he spoke, eyeing his nephew. "Three bodies weren't located amongst the corpses. Uchiha Mikoto, Itachi and Sasuke are not part of the dead bodies, however," he prevented Neji from sighing in relief just yet. "It does not mean that they are alive or far from danger."

Neji's eyes softened to a solemn look as he lowered his head to let his long bangs cover some parts of his face. Their clan and the Uchiha clan had always been allies – even way back in history. And when he first met the youngest son of the Uchiha clan's leader, he could see in his eyes that they had a lot in common, that they both wanted to prove something, and that they both lost someone. Their only differences are that Sasuke is an assassin-cross and gifted with the sharingan.

He, Hyuuga Neji, was a champion with the byaakugan.

Sasuke lost someone important to him the moment he chose the path of the shadow of death.

He on the other hand, lost his parents at such a young age.

These were their differences, but their goals were the same. And at the exact moment their names were introduced, they both managed to give each other their trademark smirks and shook each others hands. A silent promise made that they will reach their goals, working together as friends. Best friends.

"I know that, uncle, but I can at least hope that somehow, Sasuke is alive, along with Mikoto-san and Itachi-san."

Hiashi understood how his nephew felt. He even felt a pang in his heart upon seeing his good friend's, Uchiha Fugaku, lifeless body. _"And to think, we just met this morning…"_ Hiashi thought to himself. A melancholic look on his face as he watched his clansmen search for survivors and hope for the best, at the same time, properly bury the corpses.

"Neji, please inform Hinata about this. After all," he closed his eyes. "She also treats Sasuke as a big brother."

"Aa." Neji made a move to leave, yet his keen eyesight caught a figure fast approaching them.

"Neji?"

"Sasuke…" the younger Hyuuga had whispered before dashing off towards the person who had landed on the ground after a lot of tree hopping and roof jumping. "Sasuke..! You're alive!" he made a move to grab the teen, but the assassin cross, raised a hand to stop him while he panted and caught his breath. The rain had not yet stopped, a sign that some priests believed to be a way of mourning for the dead. "Neji, my clan…" he said, earning a nod from his Hyuuga friend, telling him that he knew of the incident.

"My mother is still alive, she's somewhere safe. But my brother…" he trailed off. If Neji knew his clan was killed, then he also knew his father has passed. Yet he still needed to know if they spotted Itachi's cadaver or not.

"No sign of him. And if he does not show up within three days, uncle would label him as a suspect."

"Aa. I know." Sasuke replied, looking away with his eyes narrowed. "But I believe in my brother. Even if he may seem colder than me, he would never turn his back on his family."

Neji eyed him for a moment before looking over at Hiashi who waited for them to finish talking.

"Where, exactly, is Mikoto-san?"

"…With her." Sasuke said, barely above a whisper.

The male champion before him understood who he was referring to, so he just gave a nod and gestured him to go to his uncle for questioning. Sasuke walked over to Hiashi, eyes showing every emotion he felt at the moment, and Hiashi knew that the young Uchiha had expressive eyes, it made up for what he lacked in words or actions.

"I presume your mother is safe?"

"Aa."

"That's good to know, but as for your brother, as what I've overheard, he is nowhere to be found, am I right?"

A nod.

Hiashi sighed deeply and looked over his people who continued to search, bury, and pray.

"I will give you a choice. Would you and your mother prefer to stay with us until the killer is found, or would you rather-"

Sasuke did not let him finish. It was understood that with both his father and brother's absence, he was automatically the leader of the clan. Even up to this time, women were not to be leaders of a clan this well-known and supposedly big, unless in the same case as Hiashi, who had two daughters and not one son. Aside from that, it is written in ancient laws that a wife cannot claim the throne unless the only living member left is her.

"I appreciate your kindness, Hiashi-san, but I do believe that my mother and I will be better off on our own." He closed his eyes. "We may as well keep ourselves hidden to not attract the killer."

Hiashi nodded. "What is it that you wish to happen?"

The new leader's eyes opened, the sharingan activated. "Let the news spread that there was no survivor found. Until the culprit is caught, no one must know that someone from my clan survived the massacre."

"If that is what you intend to happen, then so be it." He gave the order to a few of his people who quickly made their way to spread the word. "May I ask what you plan to do with the vicinity?"

"For now," Sasuke turned around, ready to return to where his childhood friend and mother remained. "It will remain as an empty compound, a reminder that there once was a clan who lived there."

Without waiting for a nod, he stopped upon reaching Neji's side, both of them facing opposite directions and a few feet away from each other.

"We'll start as soon as my mother is well," he said, turning his head to look at Neji who mimicked his movement. "Until then, we'll need to gather items and zenies for our soon-to-be members."

Neji nodded as he lifted his right fist. "Take care of yourself."

"Aa. You too." Sasuke did the same and they both did their way of hand-shake which Hanabi, Hinata's little sister, jokingly labeled as "fist-shake".

* * *

She remained in her spot, concern all over her face as the dark skies did not show any sign of ceasing the rain. A sigh escaped from her lips while she lowered her head, her chin resting on her folded arms that was on top of her window pane, right next to her bed. She was thankful that Mikoto was still as light as she was before, that she managed to carry the older woman to a guest room for a proper rest.

"_Sasuke… where are you..?" _she closed her eyes and tried to relax. _"I've lost you once, and I don't want to lose you again."_

Her eyes opened so suddenly when she heard someone downstairs enter. Sakura quickly leapt to her feet and stealthily climbed down the stairs to see who it was.

"Tch. You need to work on that sneak attack of yours."

She turned around. "Sasuke-kun!" and she tackled him to a hug, letting her stored tears fall from her eyes, repeating his name over and over.

"I'm fine." He assured, smiling slightly at the girl who had her arms around his waist. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a slight push so that he can look into her eyes and wipe the tears away. "Don't worry, I'm still here."

"But what if the killer comes back? What if he kills you? What if-"

She got cut off when he kissed her lips, causing her eyes to widen at the sudden action.

"You ask too many questions." He whispered when he pulled away.

Sakura, even as a child, had always had a crush on Sasuke. And as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and that is just what happened to her. She had missed him, and for that, she believes that she had fallen for him. What made her want to be with him more was when he told her of how much he went through to keep his promise, only to break it when his clan had almost turned his back on him. What made her want to love him more was when he came to her with his injured mother and announced that his clan was killed.

"Sakura..?" he grew worried when she was silent and eyeing him with half-lidded orbs. He thought that he had hurt her, scared her, and he wanted to explain that he acted on impulse, but he knew that it wasn't because of that. He knew, that as an assassin, emotions should be eradicated. Yet how can that happen when his fondness for his childhood friend, whom was also called his childhood sweetheart by Itachi, only grew to something more? Especially when she had not hesitated to forgive him, to take him and his mother in, to be here for him…

"All this time…" she whispered. "All this time I've… I…" she shook, afraid of what his answer would be if she blurted out her feelings. "Sasuke-kun, please, don't see me in a different way, promise me you'll still be my friend no matter what happens, no matter what I say."

"Sakura, I-"

"Promise me!" she yelled, loud enough for him to hear despite the lightning and thunder that struck.

"I can't…" he answered, his grip on her shoulders tightening.

"Why… not..?" her eyes produced fresh tears as she looked at him, staring back at him. "Why not?!"

"…Because…" he closed his eyes, unsure what to do, but he knew he had to. His clan's death was a sign for him, a sign that said that life was short, and that there's a possibility that he won't get another chance like this. "…Sakura, I can't be your friend, I can't_just_be your friend."

Somehow, despite the lacking words, she understood where this was going, but she wanted to hear him say it. She wanted to hear him say why.

"Sakura," he opened his eyes slowly to look at her, raising his right hand to touch her cheek. "How can a I be your friend if I don't love you as one?"

"Please…" she squeezed the hand that rested on her cheek. "Please tell me." She shut her eyes. "Sasuke-kun," she rarely calls him that. "I'm desperate."

He leaned closer and kissed her gently on the lips, not too deep so she can pull away if she does not feel the same. However, he could feel his heart skip a beat when she leaned to him as well to deepen their lip lock.

"Now do you understand why I can't be your friend?" he asked when they parted. She gave a nod, but also gave a smile and held his hand closer to her cheek, loving the warmth he had despite having the image of a cold-hearted assassin. "Mm." she responded, not minding if he did not directly say the words she hoped to hear, but she understood. "Sakura," he called out, pulling her to a hug. "What about you?"

"…_Yami_-kun should know."

If he called her gaki, which meant childish or brat, she called him yami, which meant darkness. Because even before, he always had a dark aura within him and around him; but right now, he wouldn't be alone in the dark. She'd be here.

_**To be continued…** _

* * *

_Next on Resistance: Chapter 2: Back to Basics_

He panted as he kept his eyes focused on his targets. His mother stood from a good observing distance, arms crossed and eyes having a stern look.

"Not good enough Sasuke." She commented. "I told you to not give it your 100 percent but more than that."

He cursed and clenched his fists, activating his sharingan as he continued with his training. Sakura just gave a nervous smile at the two remaining Uchihas, unsure if it was amusing to watch Mikoto give her son a hard time, or worried for Sasuke's stamina and health to waver.

* * *

_A/N: Yes, yes. I know I should be updating Biohazard but that would be on-hiatus for a while until I can locate where my Bio-muse has ran off to. Anyway, I know that their relationship here may look rushed, but as what is explained, they've been crushing on each other since their childhood days, and as what Sakura mentioned, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and for Sasuke's reason, life is too short. Besides, I'll need you all to be okay with it for me to continue with the plot. Their relationship. Is. Crucial. For. The. Story._


	2. Back to Basics

_A/N: Warning! SasuSaku scenes overload ahead! You've been warned!_

* * *

**Resistance**

Chirping birds rung in her ears as she slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times to get used to the light that entered the room.

"_Wait, room?"_

She hastily sat up and got her weapons out from her holsters, eyes cautious, wanting to see if there were enemies present.

"Where am I..?" she asked herself in a soft voice, her ears picking up the sound of two people talking. She recognized one of them, so she got out of bed – after deciding that the place was safe - and opened the door, managing to hear the conversation the two people were having from downstairs.

"It wouldn't be such a burden you know."

"Sakura, it's not only that, what if the killer tracks us here? You'll get involved."

"Sasuke, I'm already involved ever since you came to me, and don't feel guilty about it, I'm glad you did."

So her son was still alive. Now she remembered what happened. The clan was murdered.

* * *

_**Chapter 2: Back to Basics**_

Sakura grabbed his hands that were on the table, making him look up at her as she gave him a smile. "If you didn't come to me last night, do you think we'll be where we are now?"

He understood what she meant, and he was grateful that she tried her best to steer away from the topic of his clan's death. But he can't help but worry over her, now that she's involved with this matter. She may be in danger just being near him, yet a part of him kept repeating that she'd be safer if he was around to protect her.

"We have to move elsewhere though."

The two teenagers looked up and spotted Mikoto walking over to them. They both got up to greet her, and she returned it with a small smile before becoming serious once more. Now that her son is the leader, until Itachi comes around, she had to make sure he would be a good one, not that she doubted him. She just had to make sure he'd be better than good.

"First of, knowing you, I'm sure you'll be getting rid of one of the rules our clan has."

Sasuke gave a nod, and Sakura turned to ask him what it was. He blushed slightly and looked away, which caused Mikoto to give a small chuckle and took a seat next to his son.

"One of the Uchiha clan's rules is that marrying someone outside the clan is not allowed, which is why cousin marrying cousin is acceptable." She paused and continued. "In special cases, sibling marriage is also acceptable."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"Fugaku, my late husband, I don't remember being directly related to him though." She gave a sigh of relief to that. "Even I'm not comfortable with that kind of law."

Sakura agreed.

"I know my Sasu-chan, Sakura." she looked at her son, smiling. "I know who he loves, I know how he acts, I know how he thinks." She took a hold of Sakura's free hand and Sasuke's other hand, joining them together. "And I wouldn't mind having a priestess for a daughter-in-law someday." Besides, she always found the two so cute together before Fugaku decided to leave Prontera and move back to Morroc.

Sakura blushed at the thought of marriage. She didn't really know how to react to that, since she still wasn't sure what Sasuke truly felt, if his love is as deep as hers or deeper.

"Ka-chan, let's not go there." He whispered, gripping Sakura's hand for comfort and assurance. "First things first; we need to find a place where we can be safe from the person responsible for our clan's death. Next, we need to change our last names or at least not mention our family name. Lastly, I still have a mission, a self-assigned one, and I'm going to need your help on it."

Mikoto nodded, agreeing with him. "I know of a secret place where only the female members of our clan are aware of." She got up and told the two, or rather, Sakura, to pack her things and come with them. She did not heed Sakura's but's or if's. All Mikoto had to do was say that it would make her son happier, albeit it was said by a whisper, and Sakura headed upstairs to prepare.

"So, what's this self-assigned mission?" Sakura asked as they reached their destination.

"Just something…" Sasuke answered, looking around the place. "So this is where the female ninjas and assassins trained." He whispered, eyeing the weapons, rare cards for slotted items and such. Mikoto nodded and approached a few kunai and shuriken. "Right now, due to the clan's death, a lot of people in Midgard would most likely believe that ninjas and assassins will cease to exist." she threw a kunai towards Sasuke who caught the blade in between his fingers.

"I'm not satisfied with your current reaction time Sasuke." Mikoto said, eyeing the tip of the kunai which was just half an inch away from Sasuke's forehead. She glanced at Sakura who was shocked at what happened. "I know that you're planning to do something with Neji's help. But for now, ninjas are rare to find, and I bet that I am the last one." she closed her eyes. "Surely the person responsible for our clan's death wanted ninjas to disappear, and along with it, the assassins…"

"Or to sum it all up," Sasuke threw the kunai at a target he spotted, hitting the dummy square on the chest where the heart is without looking. "That someone hates our clan, or probably our classes." He grabbed a chair for Sakura to sit down. She thanked him and he gave a small smile in return before turning back to his mother. "And I take it that you plan to do something."

"Yes." Mikoto turned to face Sasuke. "I will turn you into a hybrid class."

* * *

He panted as he kept his eyes focused at his targets. His mother stood from a good observing distance, arms crossed and eyes having a stern look.

"Not good enough Sasuke." She commented. "I told you to not give it your 100 percent but more than that."

He cursed and clenched his fists, activating his sharingan as he continued with his training. Sakura just gave a nervous smile at the two remaining Uchihas, unsure if it was amusing to watch Mikoto give her son a hard time, or worried for Sasuke's stamina and health to waver.

"I said no sharingan!"

"Damn it." Sasuke cursed, almost unable to dodge the multiple shuriken his mother threw. He had been training under his mother's supervision for weeks, and though he did improve a lot on his speed, stamina and strategies, he was still a human being who needed rest. Unfortunately, he soon learned why ninjas are a rare class. They train as hell and as what he heard, have harder exams. No wonder he hasn't seen ninjas outside the Uchiha clan. Obviously, the sharingan had its advantages. "What did I tell you about the sharingan?"

Sasuke sighed as his knees gave in, his body about to fall but he quickly moved away when Mikoto sent a dozen kunai his way.

"Tch." He felt his arms and legs shake when he tried to get up. "Don't use it unless necessary." He murmured. "I know." He fell back to the ground to avoid another set of blades Mikoto threw. "Mom, give me a break!"

Mikoto ignored that statement and continued playing with a kunai. "Since we are hiding our identities as Uchihas, never let anyone see the bloodline limit we possess." She threw that kunai near Sasuke's head, causing a few black strands from her son's head to fall on the ground, where Sasuke was currently lying on. "Tch. I know." He felt sore all over. His mother sure wasn't kidding about turning him into a hybrid class.

"Um, Mikoto-san, I think Sasuke needs a break…" Sakura said, walking over to them with a tray of afternoon snacks and drinks. Mikoto's serious face turned to a giddy one when Sakura neared them. "Of course dear, anything you say!" she took the tray from her and placed it on the outdoor table which was under a tree. "Come on now son, time to eat!"

"That woman will be the death of me…" he muttered, sitting up as Sakura approached him and smiled, kneeling down beside him, yet facing the assassin. He glanced at her and raised a brow. "What?"

She smiled and raised her right hand to heal his scratches and bruises, as well as a few cuts he got for failing to completely dodge the projectiles his mother sent. "You've done a great job Sasuke," she whispered, done with healing him. "And you know that your mother just wants to make sure you'll be strong enough."

On the bright side, during those trainings, Sakura managed to become a high priestess.

"Hn."

"Besides," she closed her eyes and smiled. "Think of what our future kids will say when they find out how strong their father is."

He blushed and looked at her with wide eyes. She only laughed and got up, helping him as well. "Come on Yami, let's go."

"Yeah." He said as she led him towards where Mikoto was, who was already eating. "Imagine what they would say when they see their mother."

She looked at him, seeing his lips forming a gentle smile, and she blushed and looked down in an embarrassed way.

"What would they say?" she asked.

"Hn." He leaned down and whispered to her before heading to where Mikoto was, leaving Sakura much redder in the face. _"That baka," _she smiled and jogged over to the mother and son. _"He sure knows how to sweet talk despite being worn out."_

_Daddy's strength is nothing compared to your beauty and kindness mommy._

* * *

"Ugh." He grunted and stretched his limbs, trying to ignore the sore his muscles were having. Sighing, he plopped down on the bed of one of the rooms the underground place had, his upper body's bare skin loving the feel of the soft bed sheets as his eyes closed, letting his tensed body to relax. Just when he was about to drift off to sleep, his eyes opened as he quickly grabbed one of his daggers from the bed's side table and made a move to throw it, stopping himself when he saw Sakura enter the door.

She blinked when she saw his stance, and laughed lightly before closing the door behind her and walked over to him when he sighed and relaxed again.

"Do you mind knocking first?" he muttered, lying back on his bed.

Sakura blushed when her eyes took in the sight of his topless form, eyeing at his abs, chest and – quickly shaking her head, she turned around and tried to think of other things, other _pure _thoughts.

Due to her mental argument, she hadn't noticed how Sasuke caught her staring, and that he had a smirk on his lips as he propped himself up with his elbows and eyed her. Funny how acolyte classes are known to be innocent and pure, yet the high priestess' clothing had two big slits on the side of their dress. Aside from that, the upper part of their clothing seemed to emphasize their bust, and he's guessing that Sakura's around a B or a C.

"_Hn. Not to mention how their clothing seems to fit in all the right curves."_ He shook his head slightly and stood up, noting how she stiffened when she felt him standing behind her. "What're you thinking?" he whispered in her ear, slowly wrapping his arms around her: his right around her shoulders while his left was around her waist, pulling her body closer to him. "Uh… um… nothing, it's nothing." She turned redder when he lowered his head to her neck, biting on the closed neck collar of her dress, pulling it wider while tilting his head to hers to nuzzle the bare skin.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" she squeaked, flushing when she felt his right hand pull down her collar while he let his tongue lick her neck slowly, kissing the wet spot and sucking on it. "W-what're you doing?!"

"Hn. Marking you." He murmured, leaning his nose to her pink hair, taking a whiff of her scent which intoxicated him. "I don't want anyone to take you away." Her eyes widened when she felt her back hit the soft mattress of his bed, shocked to find him hovering over her, his hands against the bed on both sides of her head. She felt more inferior now when his gaze looked down at her intently. "You know how a lot of guys lately are after your type."

"…My type?"

"Full Support ones; specifically priestesses of your level."

She scoffed, completely ignoring the fact that she was under him. "As if I'd accompany them on their quests..."

He cocked a brow and had an amused smirk. "And why won't you? Especially if a paladin or lord knight would ask for your assistance..?"

"The swordsman class and acolyte class partnership, if you haven't noticed, have lessened." She muttered, eyeing him with a stern look. "Instead, your type and other full support classes have been paired and considered a deadly duo."

"Hn. What if another guy of my class came up to you?"

"I'll tell him I'm taken."

"Assassins can be persistent Sakura."

"And priestesses can be stubborn, Sasuke."

He couldn't help but laugh slightly and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. "What if another priestess asks me?"

"I doubt you'll accept. My type is rare nowadays. I'd kill you if you ever accept a gypsy's offer, or a dancer's. Whichever."

"Your type can't kill humans."

"I'll make an exception." She shrugged. "Besides, you'd most likely kill my heart if you do."

"I won't." he said firmly, lowering his head to kiss her on the lips. She returned it, making a move to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him lower. "You better keep your word this time." She whispered when they pulled away for air. "Hn. I will." And he closed the gap of their lips once more, adding his tongue in her mouth when she granted him entrance.

* * *

She woke up when she heard her lover's communicator beep, signaling a new message was received. Slowly, she sat up and eyed the black communicator lying on the side table before turning to the built in bathroom where Sasuke emerged from, fully clothed. "Why am I here again..?" she asked, rubbing the sleep off of her eyes. "You fell asleep last night, and no, we didn't do anything." He said, seeing her questioning look as he read the message he got. "And besides, I'd much rather do it with you after marriage."

Sakura grinned. "What makes you think I'll marry you?"

He smirked, knowing very well that she loved playing this kind of game. _Their _game.

"And why won't you?"

"I might find a hotter guy."

"If that day comes, it will be the same day he'll die."

"I can resurrect him."

"Not unless I kill him outside the monster or PVP world."

"I could find another guy."

"And he'll meet the same fate."

"Okay, what if I do marry you, what makes you think I'll do it with you?"

"You'll have no other choice," he grinned. "Unless you want to go against holy matrimony laws, which I doubt you will since you're from the acolyte class."

She huffed and crossed her arms, unaware how the oversized shirt she wore, which was his by the way, somewhat emphasized her breasts at her sudden action, leading to Sasuke's eyes staring. "Fine, you win this round." She yelped when he pinned her against the bed, his eyes having that intent look again, and once more, she felt inferior.

"Er… I thought you said you'd wait..?"

He didn't say anything for a while before sighing and leaning his forehead against hers, his eyes shut and his brows furrowed.

"Sasuke-kun..?"

"This is the last time you're sleeping beside me."

"How come?"

"I have no idea how long I'll last, especially since your actions tend to unintentionally tempt me."

She gave a cocky smile. "You mean to tell me I can actually seduce you without attempting to?"

"Basically, yes."

A giggle escaped her lips as she leaned forward and gave him a light kiss, smiling warmly when he opened his eyes halfway to look at her, content at seeing her smile like that, a smile she seemed to reserve for him, a smile that brought so much radiance that he'd be willing to go as far as giving up his life to make sure it will remain like that. He really loves his childhood friend, though he'd prefer to call her his childhood sweetheart after much teasing from his older brother.

Brother. Itachi. Aniki.

When he remembered him, he pulled away and sat down at the edge of the bed, a forlorn look in his eyes as he still had not heard any news from the Hyuuga clan about his brother.

"Sasuke-kun," his eyes widened for a bit when he felt her arms wrap around him from behind. "He'll be alright." She assured. "Itachi-nii is better than that, I'm sure he's pursuing the killer, and that he's having trouble in contacting you." Her embrace tightened. "Just have faith in him, Sasuke-kun."

He raised one hand to grip onto one of her arms, letting her know his gratitude for her understanding nature, as well as her kindness and comfort. "Aa." He replied. "Thank you, Sakura."

* * *

"Took you long enough…" Neji spoke, opening an eye to see his childhood best friend approach him as he pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning on. He raised a fist to knock it against Sasuke's before turning to Sakura. "So, you must be his childhood…" he trailed off and smirked. "Sweetheart." He finished, earning a light punch on the arm from Sasuke. "Watch it Hyuuga." He murmured, turning to his girlfriend. "Sakura, this is Neji." She offered a handshake and he took it in a firm grip, letting go when Sasuke properly introduced her to him. "Neji, Sakura." The assassin finished.

"Well then, shall we get started?" he asked, turning his attention back to Sasuke who nodded, taking the item from Neji's hand. "I hope you thought of a name already." Neji murmured as Sasuke used the item and typed in the name of the guild they were about to form.

"I've done a bit of researching." He smirked, satisfied that the guild's name was approved. "ANBU is the title given to skilled classes."

Neji and Sakura accepted the guild invitation from Sasuke, opening the guild status in their communicators.

"Neji, you'll be Co-Captain as well as Finance manager. Sakura, since you're our only FS as of yet, as well as the first, you'll be Head Medic."

The male champion coughed. "As well as being the Captain's girlfriend…"

"I heard that Hyuuga."

"Heh." Neji shrugged.

"So, now what?" Sakura asked, intervening before the two might start a little argument. "Recruit..?"

"Yeah, specifically rebirth job classes." Sasuke said, tying in a few rules and announcements that will automatically appear once a new member is in.

"If that's the case," Neji spoke up. "I have a friend of mine who's a sniper. I was supposed to meet her in Payon but then, she said she'll come over here instead." Sasuke nodded, already deciding to accept Neji's friend as a guild member.

"Hm. Here she is." The Hyuuga announced, glancing to his right as a female sniper made her way to them, her faithful falcon following her all the way to Neji's side. "Hey Neji!" she greeted, turning to Sasuke and Sakura. "You two must be his friends who he's been talking about," she eyed Sasuke and said in a low tone. "And don't worry, you're secret's safe with me. I'm one of Neji's best friends too, and he trusts me the most, aside from you."

The assassin cross nodded, glancing at Neji who shrugged before adding the sniper in the guild. "Alright, I'll put you under melee position. Your job, as what's written, is to play both offense and defense, specifically for our medics."

She nodded, then extended out a hand to him. "I'm Tenten by the way."

Sasuke nodded, shaking her hand before turning to Sakura. "Tenten, this is Sakura. My-"

"Girlfriend, I know." She said with a grin, enjoying how the two blushed. "Like I said, Neji's told me a lot about you two."

Neji raised both hands up in defense when Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him. "You talk too much."

"She can be trusted, Uchiha." He put his hands down. "Aren't you inviting your mother?"

"No. She doesn't want to take part and would rather lay low, wanting to let the suspect believe she's dead."

"Did she tell you how the suspect looks?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It was too dark for her to see." He checked the time on his communicator and sighed. "Come on, before lunch time arrives, we have to at least get another new member." With that order from their Captain, the four proceeded to make their way around Prontera, the most crowded, if not populated, town of Midgard.

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

_Next on Resistance: Chapter 3: Persistence_

"He's not gonna stop bugging us…" Neji groaned, turning to glare and twitch at the blonde Paladin. "We may as well get rid of him…"

Sasuke sighed and narrowed his eyes at the bawling teen. "Alright, we'll test your skill. All you have to do is endure our deadly attacks without using any abilities. Just stand still, we'll hit you three times, and fi you remain alive, you're in."

"You can count on me!" he exclaimed.

* * *

_A/N: Guess who? XD_


	3. Persistence

_A/N: Aww… man! You're all like: "Did Itachi kill the clan?" or "I wonder who killed the clan?" and such. Well, tell you what, why don't you point out your suspects, tell me why, and I'll see if you're close to what I'm planning. XD Anyway, yes, it's Naruto!!_

* * *

**Resistance**

"So far, we've managed to escape the clutches of evil gypsies, nosy minstrels…" Neji sighed as Tenten continued counting off the rebirth job classes they came across with. Yet with the attitude they displayed, they did not bother inviting them. Especially when the female variety would glare icily at Sakura and Tenten, and when the male part would give a venomous leer at Sasuke and Neji – who were, by the way, the leaders of the guild…

"This sucks." Sakura murmured, sighing and plopping her head on her folded arms that rested on the table. It was already noon, and they decided to get something to eat first before continuing their quest in search of new members. "I never thought it would be this hard to search for guild members."

Sasuke leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes, trying to relax. "It's not usually hard," he said. "We just got unlucky with the people who are in desperate need of a guild."

Neji nodded in agreement. Sighing as well as their orders came. "No use sulking about it," he said. "Let's just eat and try again."

The three nodded and began to dig in, hoping that they'll get lucky next time.

"Hey."

They all looked up and saw a blonde haired Paladin with a big grin.

"What?" Neji asked.

"I want to join!"

On second thought, maybe they were better off with letting those annoying minstrels in…

* * *

_**Chapter 3: Persistence**_

"Oh come on!" he begged, following the group of four around. Tenten gave an apologetic smile and Sakura turned to Sasuke who was starting to get agitated.

"For the last time idiot, our answer is still no." Neji said sternly, sighing. "Now leave us alone."

"But you said you're desperate!"

"We never said anything about being desperate!" Neji yelled.

"Come on! Please?"

"He's not gonna stop bugging us…" Neji groaned, turning to glare and twitch at the blonde Paladin. "We may as well get rid of him…"

Sasuke sighed and narrowed his eyes at the bawling teen. "Alright, we'll test your skill. All you have to do is endure our deadly attacks without using any abilities. Just stand still, we'll hit you three times, and if you remain alive, you're in."

"You can count on me!" he exclaimed.

Sakura and Tenten looked at each other first before turning to the guys as Neji led the way to a person VS person (in Ragnarok Online, it's PVP: Player VS Player) room, where no one can interrupt them.

"Sasuke, are you sure this is a good idea?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, if he lives, it proves he's got enough vitality in him." He looked at Neji who explained the rules to Naruto again. "We'll need someone who can stand longer in a battle once we come across a strong guild."

"Alright! I'm ready!"

"Hey, idiot, what's your name?" Neji asked before preparing himself to do a deadly attack.

"It's Uzumaki Naruto! Believe it!"

"Who says I don't?" Neji muttered, glancing at Sasuke who gave a nod before he executed his attack. "Raging Palm Strike!" and he hit Naruto with the use of his palms multiple times.

Tenten checked the damage that was supposed to be received by Naruto. "Wow. Neji's grown stronger since our last meeting." she commented, sweat dripping from the side of her head. "His attack is beyond two thousand in just 1.5 seconds!" She looked back at Neji who was smirking haughtily, only to have that smirk be wiped off from his lips when he saw Naruto still standing where he is, looking undamaged. "What the..?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. _"Neji's attack should throw the enemy back at about 3 cells away, yet that Paladin is still on the same spot." _He studied the blonde's face. _"Not to mention, he looks as if it was no sweat at all, like being hit by a low level monster."_

"You… you're…" Neji had no idea what to say as Naruto blinked and grinned. "Do I pass?"

"Not yet." Sasuke answered, taking a few steps forward. "We've got two more hits left."

Neji smirked at this. _"Sasuke's Soul Destroyer would do the job. With his elemental katar being that of a fire property, it should cause more damage, both in physical and magic status." _He glanced at Naruto. _"Not only that, Sasuke's blow would add status ailments, including cursing the opponent, which means, it's over for this kid."_

The Hyuuga stood aside and watched as Naruto stared at the guild leader. "So, after this, one more attack, and if I'm still standing, I'm in, right?"

"Correct." Sasuke said, preparing himself. "So you better prove to us that you're worth it."

"I'm game!"

"_Neji's damage should've at least halved this guy's hit points, mine should be able to finish him off. If not, we've still got one more chance."_ And he dashed towards Naruto. "Soul Destroyer!" and slashed both of his katars at the same time at Naruto, passing by him too fast for the naked eye to see.

_Hit points are life points in the PVP of Midgard. Once your hit points reach zero, you lose. However, when outside the PVP room, you die normally when targeted._

"Unbelievable…" Tenten whispered, checking the damage done by Sasuke's attack. "His attack, not including status ailments, is equivalent to two thousand five hundred…" she looked up, and again, sweat dropped upon seeing Naruto still standing.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Neji yelled, losing his temper as Sasuke managed to hide in his surprise by remaining impassive. _"It couldn't be…" _he thought, brows creasing together before turning to Neji. "One more hit."

Neji nodded, getting what he meant as they both readied themselves to attack together.

"Raging Palm Strike!"

"Soul Destroyer!"

In the end, Naruto was part of the guild.

* * *

"Alright..! I'm in! I'm in! Yeah!! Go me!"

Tenten and Sakura laughed at the new member's behavior as Neji sulked then turned to Sasuke who still had a blank face. "Are assassins really trained like that or you really don't give a damn about what just happened?"

Sasuke turned to Neji, then at Naruto. "I decreased the level of my Soul Destroyer earlier." He said. "Instead of its full potential, I only used about one-fourth of it."

"What?! No wonder he was still standing!"

"No, Neji." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Those three hits we gave should've killed him already. Naruto must be a vitality type of Paladin to be able to withstand your attack and mine."

"Then that means…"

"We got ourselves a jackpot in terms of defense."

As the group of five walked down the path of Midgard, they stopped to recheck their equipments.

"We'll need a rendezvous point. It's getting a bit late after all," Neji suggested. "Maybe we ought to continue our search tomorrow."

"Yeah, for now, your individual mission would be to gather up enough loot, but before we sell them, we need to look for a trustworthy merchant class so that we can upgrade the value of the items." Sasuke glanced at them for a moment. "20 of what you gained from monsters will be donated to the guild's fund."

"Got it." Tenten checked her friends list in her communicator. "I know a few people in the merchant class you can interview. When do you want me to schedule for a meeting?"

"I'll leave that to Neji, since he's in-charge of our guild's finance."

"Fine then, looks like you three will be searching on your own tomorrow." Neji said, waving a dismissive hand to them as he and Tenten left.

"Just wait for a group message of where we'll meet by the end of the day." Sasuke added, and then turned to Naruto. "As for you, tell me how many hit points you have."

"Eheh. That's a secret!" Naruto said with a goofy grin.

Sakura giggled. "You have to tell him, or he'll kick you out."

"Oh, uh, well…" He shifted. "I've got about over a hundred thousand worth of hit points if I have the right equipment on me."

"Whoa…" The medic of the guild was shocked, but Sasuke still remained impassive and gave a nod.

* * *

"I can't believe that! Can you?"

"Yeah."

"…Really?"

"I've had my fair share of PVPs with Paladins like him."

"And..?"

Sasuke eyed Sakura with a raised brow. "And what?"

She grinned. "Did you win or did you lose?"

"What do you think?"

"You…" she trailed off. If she said he won, and if he really didn't, then it would remind him of his lost. On the other hand, if she said he lost, he'd be hurt at her lack of faith in him. "It's hard to tell."

He smirked, sensing her inner turmoil. "How hard can it be?"

"Well, you're strong, but what if your opponent also had hit points like Naruto's?"

"So I'm asking you, what do you think?"

"Erm…" She thought long and hard, and tried to change the topic. "Hey! We're heading towards Morroc! Why don't we go inside the pyramid, ne?" she grinned and ran towards the warp portal that leads to Morroc.

"You know, you can just teleport us there to save time." He smirked again. "And don't change the subject."

She laughed. "Why don't you tell me then?" she opened a warp portal to Morroc and they both entered, appearing right in front of the entrance to the pyramid.

"I think you're just worried about my reaction to what your answer will be." He said, checking his equipments and skills before leading the way inside after Sakura performed all her support skills on both of them.

"So what if I am?"

"Hn. Whatever your answer, I won't turn it against you."

"Fine. I believe you won against your enemy."

He smirked. "I did."

Her eyes widened with shock while he changed his Katar of Raging Blaze into an Infiltrator - another type of katar that enables a quicker kill yet has no elemental properties.

"Hey, we're in the sixth maze of this pyramid." He said, eyes cautious as he glanced from left to right. Not too many people were around, yet most of the classes here were like them or composed of full support types and an offensive type. All of which were part of the Rebirth class or getting closer to it. "Stay close," he told her. "Amon Ra might suddenly appear."

"Well, technically, that's a low chance, but right now, we'll need to face Ancient Mummies." She got her Staff out.

"Sakura, are you sure a Mighty Staff will work better here? It drains 2 from your skill points." He said, managing to kill one Ancient Mummy with a few slashes. "And we'll be needing a lot of your magic when Amon Ra decides to pick on us."

She blinked and sighed. "Fine, I'll change into a Grand Cross Mace since it's Holy property." She grinned.

"Hn. It works better against the undead." He did a Meteor Assault skill when four Ancient Mummies had mobbed him. "Just watch your hit points."

"Will do, but I'll worry for yours first." She said.

"Your life is a lot more important."

"Very sweet of you, but I know you're just saying that since I'm the only one who can resurrect you."

"That too."

After defeating the mob, Sakura healed Sasuke, following it up with her support skills before they started to walk around. "What exactly are you looking for here anyway?" he asked, ignoring the weaker monsters that have come to attack, only killing them when they've grown into a huge number. "Well…" she stuck her tongue out playfully, and Sasuke didn't like it one bit. "Aw shit. You're actually aiming for Amon Ra."

"Yep."

"Sakura, even an assassin of my level won't be able to face that thing alone."

"That's why I'm here to support you!"

He sweat dropped and sighed, letting his forehead hit his palm. "You don't get it, do you?" he eyed her seriously. "To rush head on at Amon Ra on your own is suicidal. Even with support. Why do you think parties are formed when MVP monsters or Boss monsters come out?" he turned from her. "Come on, we're out of here."

"But…" she stopped herself. Her boyfriend was clearly annoyed, though it wasn't obvious, she could tell. Silently, she just followed him as he glanced back at her, seeing her head lowered and eyes downcast. He didn't mean to sound a bit harsh earlier, it just came out. He couldn't help but be stern earlier, especially since it was to lecture Sakura about monsters – specifically, MVP ones. Still, he felt bad for being the cause of her current sadness. "Why do you want to encounter Amon Ra anyway?" he asked, looking back up front.

"…Its nothing."

"Sakura."

"Oh fine! I just wanted to find out what it's like to encounter an MVP." She said, turning away from him. "Tenten told me it was exciting when she and Neji fought against a Hyrdrolancer. And then Naruto was telling us about how he and his party members back then defeated an Orc Lord…" she looked up at him as he watched her. "And you told me how you miss those times you, your brother, Neji and Hinata would bravely fight against a Baphomet! I'm just jealous!"

"Hey…" he called but she didn't stop.

"What use am I to you guys if I lack the experience to act fast when we come across a strong monster? What if I mess up? What if… what if…" she wasn't surprised when he hugged her, but she just quieted down and tried to remain calm. She didn't want him to worry about her, but she couldn't help but blurt it out. One way or another, he had to know.

"Look, I don't mind if you want to go hunting for MVP monsters, but not like this." He said. "Not with just the two of us." He sighed. "A Hydrolancer has about 35,000 hit points, if I'm not mistaken…" he paused. "But an Amon Ra has a million hit points."

"But Amon Ra's attacks range from a thousand to two, yours could go beyond!"

"Only if I use Soul Destroyer, and my limit at maximum is only until two. I'm a critical type, Sakura, therefore, my accuracy and hit rates are much higher compared to my skill points."

"What about your hit points?"

"If Amon Ra continues hitting me, I can only take seven hits before I'm down." He turned around and attacked an Ancient Mummy that approached them. "Compared to Naruto's hit points, mine aren't even half of his."

She felt bad all of a sudden that she lowered her head again. "I'm sorry. I didn't know…" she glanced at him. "I was too preoccupied in wanting to experience what it's like against a strong opponent that I didn't even think of your safety…"

"Forget it." He said, looking at his communicator to check their location. "We're about three walls away from the exit, so…" he trailed off as he suddenly sensed a strong presence enter the pyramid.

"What's wrong?"

"Sshh." He looked at the walls next to him and placed a hand over them, trying to feel the aura that made him stop. It wasn't the kind of energy an MVP monster emits, but it was human. _"How can someone grow as strong as this..?" _he thought, eyes narrowing, unconsciously activating the sharingan. "Sasuke..?" she walked over to him, and his eyes suddenly widened that he jumped back and brought his arms up for defense, two blades clashing against his katar ones before locking onto him.

"What the-?!" he got cut off when the blades that were connected to a chain suddenly pulled him, causing him to crash through the small crack that the wall had. Sakura called him, running after her childhood friend, hoping he'd be safe.

"Tch. What the hell?!" he eyed the chains when he came to an abrupt stop. Slowly, he pushed himself off the ground, sitting on the floor and trailing after the owner of those weapons with sharingan red eyes. He couldn't identify his attacker, but based from the tall form and armor, he concluded that the assaulter was a Paladin, and the stranger had a unique weapon – a weapon that looked familiar to him. _"You've got to be kidding me…" _his brows narrowed as he glared eye to eye with the stranger who looked shocked upon seeing him before deciding to warp out of the pyramid when Sakura had arrived to aid Sasuke.

"_That weapon…" _he thought as he let Sakura assist him in getting up. _"A two-handed sword type, wherein the blades can be detached from the handle, but has chains connected to it…"_ he didn't notice how Sakura was calling him as he eyed the exit of the pyramid where the mysterious Paladin had entered from. _"That weapon… came from our clan's shrine."_ And absent-mindedly, his fists clenched.

* * *

"Back so soon?"

"I had to."

"Why? I thought you wanted to test your weapon against Amon Ra?" he grabbed an apple from his backpack.

"…I saw someone." He murmured. "I was a bit surprised when he was able to sense my presence that I had to see who he was."

"Hm?" he checked the red fruit, inspecting if it had any dirt. "And who was he?"

"Someone who was supposed to be dead…" He eyed his companion. "His eyes… they were red." And the apple his companion had was crushed to pieces.

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

_Next on Resistance: Chapter 4: Gypsy Trouble_

"You're from that clan…" she said with so much hate. "It's because of your clan that my family had to suffer!"

Neji made a move to attack but Sasuke stopped him, and instead, stepped forward to face the girl.

"And since you're still alive," her eyes grew more sinister. "I can have my revenge!"

* * *

_A/N: So, yeah. Haha. Can anyone guess who the two people are in the last scene? And who the girl Sasuke's about to fight with is?_


	4. Gypsy Trouble

**Resistance**

"Hah! You wizards are no match for me!" Naruto yelled, laughing out loud as the two high wizards got up from their spots and dusted off dirt from their robes. Neji gave Naruto a hit on the head before dragging him away, leaving Tenten to apologize to the two before leading them to the other members of the guild.

Earlier, the group had decided to enter the PVP room in search of Mage class people, since Neji and Tenten came back with Hinata, another champion, and her friend, Kiba, who was a Sniper. So far, the guild has one full support high priestess, one assassin cross, two champions, two snipers, a paladin, and now, two high wizards.

It was Tenten who suggested for a mage class member, since they'll be needing both offense and defense magic, plus the fact that she had forgotten to schedule an interview with her merchant class friends. Of course, since the encounter with a mysterious Paladin yesterday, Sasuke was too preoccupied with his thoughts to even notice what Tenten's mistake was, and he didn't even scold Naruto for being rude to the new members.

Their names were Shikamaru and Shino. They made a deal with the ANBU members that they'll only join if the guild is able to defeat them. Naruto sprang in out of excitement, which almost led to their lost, but with the blonde having a high vitality, they managed to counter the two high wizards' attacks. It was thanks to Hinata's brilliant strategy of making Tenten and Kiba hit the two with "Charged Arrow" continuously, not giving their opponents a chance to attack from being pushed back and hit at the same time.

Sakura did her part by slowing the two down with Decrease Agility, plus silencing them as well, which cancelled their magic attacks. Neji and Hinata finished it up with their killing blows, but before they could, the two had given up, saying that they know when they're beaten.

_**

* * *

Chapter 4: Gypsy Trouble**_

"You've been silent the whole time."

"Hn."

Neji sighed and nodded at the two high wizards, a signal that they ought to come over. "This is Nara Shikamaru, and his friend, Aburame Shino." Neji introduced. The two, out of habit and respect, bowed down slightly. Sasuke raised his head and nodded, before inviting them to the guild, afterwards, didn't bother to say anything else, so, Neji did the liberty of explaining everything to them.

"Hm, what's he like?" Shikamaru asked Neji, glancing at Sasuke who remained seated on the floor, head lowered, and eyes narrowed. "I mean, he didn't participate in the fight, and left you guys. He sure has a lot of trust in all of you."

"I don't know what's wrong with him, but yeah, usually, he does let us do the testing of abilities while he observes the fight." Neji scratched the back of his head and sighed. "He will only join in once he knows we need help. But right now, something's bugging him, and I have no idea what."

"Problems, perhaps." Shino assumed. "So, what's his name?"

"Sasuke." Neji answered, keeping the family name a secret upon recalling that everyone must know that no Uchiha had survived.

The two looked at Neji, expecting the complete name.

"Sorry, but, he's got amnesia as to who his family is."

"Sad." Shikamaru murmured, nodding once before looking up at the clouds. "So, what are we doing sticking around the PVP area?"

Naruto butted in. "It's a daily routine." He said, grinning. "We stay here to challenge some interesting people of different classes, and by the end of the day, we hunt for monsters, either separated into parties or as a whole guild."

"The monster hunting part is for the guild's finance." Tenten added, entering the conversation. "However, you're going to need to partner up with someone, since Neji and I go together, and those two," she pointed at Sasuke and Sakura. "Are inseparable."

Naruto frowned. "So who am I supposed to go with?" he glanced at Kiba and Hinata who were busy with Kiba's pet wolf and falcon. "Those two would most likely stick together as well, and these newcomers are going to pair up for sure."

"You'll be sticking with Sakura for the time being."

They looked up at Sasuke when he suddenly spoke.

"Wait, what?" Naruto was suddenly confused.

"Sasuke..?" Sakura asked, eyeing him as he got up. "What are you planning?"

"I need to do some investigating." He said, turning his back to his guild members. "Neji, I'm leaving you in-charge for now."

"Wait a minute!" Sakura grabbed his arm. "You're not going back there alone, are you?"

Silence answered her, and Sasuke pulled his arm away from her grasp as gently as he could.

"It's too dangerous to go there alone! You told me yourself!" she added.

This confused the rest, but they stayed silent to listen to the conversation.

"Sakura, please." She stopped herself from talking upon detecting the desperation in his voice. It was the first time she actually heard him sound pleading, and she couldn't find it in her heart to stop him. "I need to do this alone." He glanced at her. "And the guild needs you, I need you to be here for them."

"...But... what if..."

"I'll meet you back here, or I'll just send a message." He turned to Neji. "You know what to do."

"Yeah, I got it." Neji answered, turning away.

* * *

Mikoto blinked upon seeing her son back so soon, without Sakura at that.

"I need to talk to you." He said, sitting down in front of her in the dining area as she got up to get him some tea. "It's about what happened last night."

"I still have no idea who the Paladin is." Mikoto answered truthfully. "But you do know that you made a mistake in showing your sharingan."

"Yeah." Sasuke murmured. "But he wasn't able to identify who I was due to the darkness."

"That's true." She sat back down and took a sip from her tea while Sasuke thanked her and drank his a bit slowly. "But I recall the murderer of the clan not being a Paladin..." she muttered. "I can't seem to tell if it was a Stalker, or perhaps a Ninja, or an Assassin Cross..."

"Gunslinger?"

"No." Mikoto shook her head. "I doubt it was a Gunslinger, but it's a possibility to some of the victims, due to bullet wounds..."

"Hn. So we're dealing with more than one murderer."

"Apparently." She said, nodding once before finishing her tea. "It's best to just lay low for the time being, and leave the information gathering to me." She narrowed her eyes at her youngest son. "Even if you're now a hybrid type, I am still an expert in terms of spying."

"I know." He replied. "It's part of your ninja training, but I can do my own investigating as well mom, it's better to have a few leads than none."

"Just be careful Sasuke." She sighed and lowered her head. "You're the remaining heir, until Itachi is found alive..." she held back her tears. "You bear the name of our clan, and if you die, our family name goes along with you."

"I'm aware of that." He said, narrowing his eyes. "I promise, I won't die until everything is back to the way it's supposed to be."

Mikoto gave a small, yet proud smile. At that certain moment, her son reminded her so much of her dead husband. _"If only you could see him now, Fugaku."_

A beep interrupted their thoughts, causing Sasuke to sigh and look at his communicator.

"I have to go." He stood up when Mikoto gave a nod, before leaving the place._  
_

* * *

A wink, plus a seductive smile, and already, the men started turning into mush, their faces red, and their noses bleeding. Truly, men were weak when it comes to a woman showing off her well-developed curves, and fully-grown breasts. Albeit not completely nude, the wardrobe of the gypsy shows enough to send men into frenzied states.

"You sure know how to pick 'em." One said to his Gypsy friend, smiling in amusement at how these men turned into jelly. "I guess we'll have no problem in defeating this guild with just the four of us." he turned to his other companions who nodded in agreement.

Their team consisted of three men; one was a Whitesmith, the other was a Gunslinger, and the third one was a Star Gladiator. The only female member was a Gypsy, and while their male opponents were being tricked by the Gypsy, the rest of the guys have begun to attack the remaining female members before quickly defeating the other ones, declaring their party the winner for the PVP area.

"We're just lucky that this guild isn't complete yet." The Gunslinger said, reloading his gun with bullets. "Otherwise, we wouldn't even live long enough." He turned to the Star Gladiator who stretched. "Hey, Lee, any luck on getting ourselves in a guild yet?"

"No. I think most guilds are already aware of who we are."

"So they refuse to let us in?" The Whitesmith asked with a frown, cursing and sitting on the floor as he crossed his arms. "I told you Sai, this idea of yours in bringing fear to guilds isn't good."

"Relax Chouji," Sai said with a smile. "Sooner or later, a particular guild would want all four of us." He glanced at their female companion who already had her eyes set on another group from a distance. "Hm. Ready for a new target already Ino?"

Ino gave a smirk. "They're mostly guys, those three girls ought to be enough for you boys."

Lee studied the group they were about to target next. "Hey! Those two come from the Hyuuga clan!" he stated, pointing at the male and female Champions of the party. "And they have two Snipers, two High Wizards, a Paladin, and a High Priestess!"

"What's this? Only one support type?" Sai mused, grinning. "This ought to be easy..." he turned to Lee and Chouji. "We take out the Priestess and female Champion first, while Ino distracts the male members."

"Oh boy." Chouji grunted. "Just when I decided to take a break too." He got up and picked up his hammer. "So, let's get this over with."

And the party of four marched towards the eight people.

* * *

"Huh? Challengers?"

Neji looked at where Naruto was staring off to, and he sighed.

"I told you, idiot, we should've left earlier to hunt for monsters and rare items."

"Oh come on!" Naruto grinned. "There's only four of them and eight of us! We can take them!"

Tenten smirked. "Well, we could use an exercise, besides, Sasuke didn't say anything about avoiding a fight, even if he did leave you in-charge Neji."

"So, it's a go?" Naruto pleaded. "Come on Neji! Don't be such an ass!"

"Don't tempt me to kick you out." He muttered. "Alright, fine, let's give it a shot, IF they do challenge us."

"Alright!" Kiba jumped up from his sitting position and grinned. "It's been a while since I've had another war here!"

Tenten and Kiba went into position, standing a few feet ahead of Sakura, while behind the High Priestess stood the two High Wizards. Neji and Hinata walked over to Naruto, looking like bodyguards of the Paladin who stood smugly in between them.

"What's this? You're prepared already?" The Gunslinger asked with an amused smile. "In that case, Ino," he nodded at the blonde who nodded back, walking ahead of the three and stopping just a few feet away from Naruto, who narrowed his eyes and drew out his sword, ready for an assault.

Without warning, Ino smiled and gave a wink, causing Naruto to turn red and remained unmoving as he stared at Ino for a long period of time.

"What the-?!" Tenten was taken by surprised when the Star Gladiator began to attack her with non-stop kicking. Sakura was surrpised that she made a move to heal Tenten, but was blocked by the Gunslinger from earlier, who smiled at her. "Sorry, I can't allow you to support your allies."

"Naruto! What the heck is wrong with you?!" Yelled Shikamaru who was engaged with Chouji, while Shino assisted Sakura. Shikamaru's eyes widened when Ino appeared before him and gave another wink, before rushing off towards Shino.

Shikamaru stared, before realizing what that wink's effect was.

"Crap. It stuns targets!" he cried out, casting a fire wall before him to prevent Chouji from advancing.

"Ino!" Sai called out, shooting nonstop at Sakura as Ino stopped from advancing towards Shino, nodded, and performed a dance.

"Fortune's Kiss." She said, dancing, as music played in her ears, her eyes closed in concentration, before opening halfway, smirking at how she had captivated the males' eyes from her winks, and how the Fortune's Kiss skill had boosted the Critical Rate of her comrades.

"Overthrust!" Chouji called out, increasing the attack rate of his party members. "Hammer Fall!" and he targeted Shikamaru to knock him down.

"Damn you!" Neji cursed, rushing towards Lee who successfully defeated Tenten.

Neji's fist connected with Lee's leg, as they both eyed each other, the former glaring, the latter smirking.

"Let's see which class is better, yours, or mine." And he gave a round house kick to hit Neji on the head.

Getting back up, Neji made a mad dash towards Lee, but suddenly stopped to cover his ears when Ino gave a high pitched Scream.

"Nice." Sai muttered under his breath, seeing their opponents stunned from the sudden skill the Gypsy performed. "Drain their SP Ino."

"Ugly Dance." Ino, this time, gave a horrendous dance, the effect of the skill taking its toll on their opponents as they all felt their Skill Points drained.

"Shit." Shino cursed, immediately taking in some blue potions in order to perform a skill. He soon produced an Ice Wall around Sakura to stop Sai from attacking.

"Aw man," Sai turned to Shino. "Shouldn't you be stunned?"

Shino gave an impassive face. "I wasn't withing the cell radius of your friend's attack." He replied. "Earlier, while you called her to perform, I slipped out of her view in order to prevent you from killing our Priestess."

"You're pretty smart." Sai said, flipping a few coins. Shino noticed that there were about five coins that circled around Sai. With a smirk, the Gunslinger flung three of the coins at Shino for distraction, before taking out two of his guns to make a rapid shooting attack, not giving Shino a chance to counter, much less, heal himself with white potions.

Sakura, who noticed that she was near enough to heal Shino, healed her comrade and supported him by decreasing Sai's agility, while increasing Shino's.

"_Sasuke-kun... where are you?" _she glanced at the others worriedly. Due to the Ice Wall that Shino had surrounded her with, she couldn't approach Tenten to Resurrect her, so she had to stay put and do her best to support those who were within her skill range.

* * *

"Good job." The man said, throwing his cigarette down on the floor and stepping on it to put the fire out. "As negotiated," he took out something from his coat's pocket and tossed it at the new arrival who brought him a dead man. "There's your ten million zenies." He looked down at the corpse. "That Knight almost ratted out on me." He muttered, looking up at the killer of the deceased Knight.

"This will be the last time I killed for you."

"Hmph." He lighted another cigar. "That Knight isn't as pure or devoted as you'd believe."

"Asuma, I'm serious. Our guilds aren't even allies."

"Well, sorry, it's not my call to invite yours as an ally." He shrugged. "And anyway, our Assassin Cross (Sin-X) wasn't available, you were the next best thing." He smirked. "And besides, I've been your client since you became an Assassin."

"Hn." He nodded once and turned, about to leave.

"And Sasuke," the Sin-X stopped and turned his head slightly to the Gunslinger. "There's news about your brother being spotted, but we haven't confirmed it yet, since not all of the descriptions matched."

"Then how do you know it's Itachi?"

"Simple." He tossed the cigar on the floor, stepped on it like earlier, picked up the corpse, and turned his back to the Assassin Cross. "He had red eyes." Without waiting for a reply, he raised his hand to wave without looking back and walked off, leaving Sasuke to stare at him for a moment before turning to take his leave.

The Knight he killed must have figured out that Asuma and his guild mates were hot on the tail of suspicious targets they labeled as "Akatsuki", and was about to report who was investigating. Maybe killing that Knight wasn't so bad, but he still cursed himself for accepting another mission. After promising Sakura not to kill, he apparently can't escape the fact that he is an Assassin, and that his job is to kill, no matter what promise he made.

"_I broke another one, Sakura." _He sighed and rushed back to where his friends were, hoping that Naruto wouldn't get them into another predicament, even if he does trust Neji to handle everything, that Hyuuga lacked patience when it came to the annoying Paladin.

"Yo."

He abruptly stopped and turned to his left.

"Been a while, Sasuke."

"Tch. What do you want this time Kakashi?"

"Hm? Oh, right," he closed the book he was reading and pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning on. "My guild master wanted to add a bonus." He took out a bag and handed it to Sasuke who raised a brow. "It's for killing that Knight." Kakashi explained, grabbing Sasuke's hand and placing the bag of money onto it. "And besides, she heard that you just formed a guild, it's no wonder why she gave such a huge bonus."

"...Mom told her." He stated, grunting. "Stay away Kakashi."

Kakashi chuckled, raising his hands up in defense. "Come on, your mom's single right now, why can't I make a move on her?"

"Don't force me to kick your ass." He glared. "And why the hell didn't _you _take the job?"

"I was on another assassination mission." He blinked. "Hey! That rhymed!"

"Aagh! Screw you!" Sasuke turned to leave. "And next time, don't read that book in front of me!"

"You're welcome." Kakashi called out, waving with a grin. Looks like he was _still_ the only one who can make Sasuke lose his cool.

* * *

Their situation wasn't good. Their two Snipers were down, including their two High Wizards. Aside from that, Hinata is having difficulty in fending off Chouji, while Neji is getting frustrated with Lee. He was stuck in battling Sai, and Ino wasn't giving them a chance to counter attack, since she'd always target Neji and him to aid her comrades.

"I hate you guys." Naruto hissed, pulling himself up from the ground as he gripped his sword and stabbed it on the floor. "Grand Cross!" Sai rolled off to the side, only getting hit for a moment. "Ino, finish this, will you?" Sai got up and approached the Ice Wall that was slowly thinning. "Looks like I can get rid of this thing to eliminate their Priestess."

"Why you-" Naruto picked his sword up, about to heal himself when his ears picked up the sound of someone singing a melodic tune. _"Wh-what... my... body..." _he dropped to his knees, using his weapon for support as he looked at Ino, seeing her standing a few feet before him, eyes closed while singing a soothing song. "...Crap... Lullaby..." Naruto murmured, his eyes suddenly feeling heavy.

Hinata and Neji had also fallen to their knees, trying to keep awake while Ino continued to sing. Chouji and Lee began to approach Sai to help him out in taking down the Ice Wall.

"Damn it..." Kiba muttered, unable to move.

When one is defeated in the PVP area, one does not lose consciousness but is temporarily stunned until revived by someone, or perhaps, until they leave the room and come back again.

Unfortunately for ANBU, Sai had proposed a "No Return" challenge, meaning until all the party members are defeated, no one should warp out and come back to counter.

The Lullaby skill causes the target's body to "sleep". When in this mode, the victim will have to wait for the effect to wear off, or when someone attacks the person, to jolt the target back to reality.

"Done yet?" Sai asked, turning to see Ino stop her singing. "Alright, let's end this."

Lee was about to deliver one more kick to destroy the Ice Wall, but was interrupted by a shield being thrown at his head.

The four turned to see Naruto panting, yet smirking at them, his shield returning to him as he caught it, and healed himself, feeling back to normal.

"How did you-?!" Ino snarled. "You're supposed to be asleep!"

"Sorry, had to bite my tongue to keep awake, besides," he glanced at Neji and Hinata who had fallen to the ground, after Lee and Chouji had knocked them out while Ino was distracting them with her song. "I can't let my friends down, they invited me to this guild because they depend on me!" He narrowed his eyes at them. "And even if I can't resurrect them back, I can stall for a period of time until that bastard gets back here!"

"Huh?" Chouji turned to Lee who shrugged and looked at Sai who also gave them a clueless expression before eyeing Ino who sighed and shook her head.

"Just wait and see." Naruto smirked. "You'll pay for what you did here." He ran and jumped, stabbing the ground with his sword when he landed near the four. "Grand Cross!" and he managed to hit all of his opponents, ending Chouji's Hit Points which caused him out of the battle.

"Damn." Lee cursed and made a move to attack Naruto, but was blocked. "He's on Auto Guard!" he told his comrades as Naruto grinned. "I'm not gonna be careless this time!"

"Lee, you and Ino take care of this guy," Sai jumped off and rushed to Sakura. "I'll have to finish this girl off so that it's only that blonde we'll worry about."

"Sakura!" Naruto was about to run towards her, but Lee had blocked him. "Your opponent is me."

Naruto readied himself to block the kick, but he was surprised when Lee's attack halted in mid air.

"Huh?"

Lee gritted his teeth and forced himself to move his leg, but ended up getting pulled back. Naruto turned to see Sai's arm pulled as well, preventing him from destroying the Ice Wall that kept Sakura safe. He looked back and saw Ino on the ground, her arms firmly kept to her side, and her feet struggling.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked with a confused look.

"I leave for a while and this is what greets me?"

The three, plus Naruto and Sakura, looked up on the rooftop to see Sasuke kneeling on one knee, his right hand gripping onto something as he eyed the scene below him.

"Let us go!" Ino yelled, trashing about. "And how the hell did a Sin-X like you acquire these strings?!"

"_Strings..?" _Naruto squinted, and the sunlight bounced off from the thin wires that Sasuke held and had wrapped around Lee's leg, Sai's arm, and Ino's body, making sure that the three wouldn't be able to perform their skills. "Hey, idiot, make yourself useful and resurrect Neji for me, will you?" Sasuke tossed an Yggdrasil Leaf at Naruto, an item that can enable anyone to give life back to the unconscious, or defeated.

"Why only Neji?" he asked, doing what he was told to do. "Why not the others?"

"I only have one, smart ass." Sasuke said. From the way his tone sounded, it looks like he wasn't in a good mood. "Neji, catch." He tossed the two bags he got from Asuma and Kakashi. "That goes to our guild's finance." And he turned to Sakura, seeing the Ice Wall finally disappear. "Sakura, go revive the others."

She nodded and did her task, resurrecting everyone in a matter of seconds.

"As for you three..." Sasuke pulled the wires tighter. "It's better for you to just leave, before I change my mind about finishing you off." He turned back to Naruto. "And I won't let you off the hook for calling me a bastard."

"Y-you heard that?"

"Hn. I was watching how you'll do against these guys, but since the Gunslinger was about to take Sakura out, I had to do something." He got up and ignored Naruto's complaints about only doing so because Sakura was his girlfriend.

Sasuke jumped down from the roof and released the wires as Neji stepped up to him.

"How the hell did you get 50 million?!" he hissed. "This is... it's..."

"...None of your business." Sasuke muttered, turning back to Sai's party. "Leave, now."

"Hm. It's not in our style to do so, but as repayment for letting us save our dignity..." Sai turned to Chouji, and revived him with his Yggdrasil Leaf. "Let's go guys."

The three men made a move to leave, but they stopped when Ino remained standing, staring at where Sasuke stood.

"Ino?" Sai called, but she ignored him.

"You're from that clan…" she said with so much hate. "It's because of your clan that my family had to suffer!"

Neji made a move to attack but Sasuke stopped him, and instead, stepped forward to face the girl.

"And since you're still alive," her eyes grew more sinister. "I can have my revenge!"

She suddenly ran, took her whip out, and attacked, managing to hit Sasuke's face with the use of her whip.

"Sasuke!" Sakura was stopped by Naruto, his eyes telling her that she shouldn't interfere.

Ino watched as blood dripped down from the cut she gave him, her eyes still glaring at him as he remained standing, before raising his head to look at her, eyes narrowed, but he made no move to attack.

That alone pissed Ino off, so she attacked again, and again, and again, but still no reaction from Sasuke, despite inflicting him with so many cuts.

"Why..? Why won't you defend yourself?! Why won't you attack?!"

"...Ino, was it?" He asked, ignoring how his clothes began to soak in his blood. "I don't know what my clan did to you, but whatever it is, for you to hate me that much, I have no choice but to repent for what they did."

"...Ngh." She gritted her teeth. "Do you think I'll show you any mercy just for that?!" she attacked again, not bothering to use any of her skills.

Sai grabbed her arm when she was about to deliver another blow. "Enough." He said. "He wasn't the one responsible for killing your mother, and your unborn sibling." He whispered. "And it's not his fault that your father was blinded by rage when he charged the Uchiha Clan's territory."

"_...Uchiha?" _Shikamaru thought. "You... you're a survivor?!"

Neji approached Shikamaru. "Keep it a secret, please."

"...I'm not planning on telling anyone, but, why?"

"Trust me, it's better this way." Neji said, turning to Shino who nodded in understanding.

"But still," Ino started to cry. "He came from the same clan! He's an Assassin Cross! He... he..."

"...I'm sorry." Sasuke said, unsure if it was even the right time to apologize. "On behalf of my clan, I'm sorry. But... understand this," he looked at Ino directly in the eye. "There are some clients whom we can't refuse. Assassins and Ninjas are used as killing tools by people, and it's a job we can't decline. I'm not saying that my clan has no fault in your family's demise, but I'm just telling you that it's not our entire fault."

"He's right." Lee said, walking up to Ino. "Besides being dubbed as the Heartless Class, Assassins and Ninjas also suffer the most out of all the classes, because they need to take the verbal insults, they need to keep an impassive face when confronting a sorrowful event. More importantly, they are ordered to strictly accept a client's request."

"But my father... he didn't need to die!" Ino argued.

"For that," Sasuke lowered his head. "I can only hope my life can make up for it."

Neji and the others suddenly turned to him with wide eyes.

"What... what are you saying?!" Naruto yelled. "Are you planning to get her to kill you?!"

"Shut up Naruto." Sasuke turned to him. "Or were you not listening to what we just discussed?"

"But Sasuke, to have your life pay the price of someone's fault?" Naruto tried to reason out with him. "That's... that's stupid!"

"Forget it." Sai said to Sasuke, taking Ino away. "It's bad enough that she's blinded by rage, it's enough that she did this much damage to you, and your apology and offer is already enough." and he turned to Ino. "You can't possibly hold a grudge against someone who isn't aware of your situation."

"...How old are you?" Ino asked all of a sudden, ignoring what Sai told her.

The rest blinked in confusion, even Sasuke was taken aback by her question.

"How old are you?" she repeated.

"...Eighteen."

Ino nodded once. "Then, you were probably still a child when that happened..." She whispered, mostly to herself.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I can only wish I could help you, but, I can't bring the dead back to life, no one can."

"I know." Ino gave a bitter smile. "It's fine..." she turned around, Sai leading her away, the rest bidding them a goodbye.

Sasuke just watched them leave, aware of how Ino held back her tears, only breaking down when she turned her back on them. Instantly, he recalled how he also forced back the tears that came when his clan was murdered, and he remembered how he stood under the pouring rain to hide his tears while keeping an impassive face.

_"The only difference is..."_ he felt Sakura's arms wrap around him all of a sudden, and he turned to look at her, seeing how her eyes worried over the multiple cuts he had. _"...I had Sakura when I needed someone, while Ino was alone..."_

* * *

"Hold still."

"I just don't get why you can't heal me instead."

"...It's punishment for killing someone again."

"Geez." Sasuke sighed, flinching when Sakura placed a stinging ointment on the cut on his cheek. "What is that stuff anyway?"

"An old family recipe." She grinned and gave a wink. "Anyway," and soon, she healed his wounds. "There, I think you've suffered enough."

"...Why you-" he cut himself off and decided to just tackle her, earning a laugh from her when her back hit the mattress.

They were currently inside an Inn, since the guild would be traveling a lot from now on. Neji had suggested that it would be better to walk around Midgard's towns as a whole, since it would also enhance the members' bonds with each other.

"Don't be such a sore loser!" Sakura grinned. "Besides, you had it coming."

"I told you, it's my job, I can't escape it."

"I know." She sat up, making him get off of her, and she kissed him lightly on the forehead. "I can only pray that you don't get killed when you're on a mission..."

He noted her sudden change of mood, so he pulled her into his arms before lying back down. "You and your excuses..." he muttered, stroking her hair. "Just cut it out and tell me that you don't want me to go anywhere without you."

She pulled away from him and hovered over him, her eyes half-closed as she stared deep into his onyx orbs.

"You won't let me." She said. "You keep saying that it's too dangerous."

"Because it is." He looked away from her eyes, they were making him feel guilty. "And... I don't want you to see me killing someone."

"I'll close my eyes."

"It doesn't change the fact that my target may have an accomplice that could go after you."

"I'll be careful."

"Sakura, stop it."

"Only if you stop leaving me!"

Silence ensued afterwards, because he was afraid that if he said something, he might say the wrong thing, and he didn't want to argue with her.

He placed a hand on her cheek, pushing away some of her hair's strands while his eyes softened as he kept his gaze on her. "What do you want me to do to make you happy? To make you satisfied, even for just a while..."

She looked at him in the eyes.

"I want you to marry me. Promise me that you will, only then will I smile for you the way I did before."

"What gave you the idea that I won't?"

"...I'm scared." She lowered her head to his chest and shut her eyes. "I'm scared that I'll lose you someday..."

He wrapped his arms around her and moved a bit so that they could both lie on their sides, face to face.

"I'll marry you," he said, taking her hand in his, intertwining their fingers, and kissing her knuckles softly. "When the right time comes, I'll propose to you."

She smiled. "Why not now?"

* * *

A yawn escaped his lips as he stretched his arms and greeted his fellow guild mates a good morning. He eyed the members before noticing that two people were missing.

"Hey, where are Sasuke, and Sakura?"

"Probably still in their room." Neji answered, shrugging.

He blinked, his eyes suddenly widening. "What?! That bastard! They're not even married yet!"

He felt someone kick him from behind, causing him to fall forward.

"Tch. Idiot." Sasuke muttered, managing to stay composed, whereas Sakura had turned a deep shade of red. "We didn't do anything, for your information."

"Yeah right!" Naruto got up and pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke. "For all I know, you've done it with her multiple times!"

A twitch, and then, a staff had hit Naruto on the head.

"What kind of a guy do you take Sasuke for?" Sakura grumbled. "And what makes you think I'd let him do it with me outside marriage?!"

"B-but Sakura..." Naruto whined, nursing the bump on his head.

"Geez." She sighed and kept her staff, turning to Sasuke with a small smile. "What's our agenda today captain?"

He smirked. "Hn."

"There they are!"

The guild turned to where the voice came from, seeing Lee and company running towards them.

"What do you want this time?!" Naruto demanded, getting into a fighting stance but Ino rushed pass him, and he blinked, then turned, sweat dropping when he saw how Ino had thrown herself at Sasuke. "Wasn't she just seething at him yesterday?" he asked Sai who had walked up from behind. A smile answered Naruto, and the Gunslinger just gave a shrug. "When we left yesterday, and I asked her about Sasuke, she suddenly went into fan girl mode."

"It was really a pain." Chouji muttered, sighing."How she kept ranting that he was such a man for accepting the fault of his clan, how he was so responsible and blah, blah, blah!"

Sasuke just blinked, unsure how to react when Ino had tightened her hold onto him, her grip around his neck refusing to loosen.

"I'm so sorry about yesterday!" she cooed.

Sakura stared at her boyfriend, then at Ino.

"I didn't really mean to hurt you!" She added, rubbing her cheek at Sasuke's.

Sakura felt herself twitch.

"Do you still have any injuries?" she asked, keeping herself attached to Sasuke still. The Sin-X wanted to push her off, bu couldn't due to Ino's arms preventing him from moving. "Um... could you... let go?" he asked, but was ignored. "Aw... poor baby had to suffer because of me!"

Sakura felt her brows knit, and her eyes turn to a glare. Did Ino just call _her _boyfriend '_baby'_?!

"Don't worry, Ino-chan will make Sasuke-kun feel better!"

"_She did NOT just call MY Sasuke-kun with that –kun attached!"_

Somehow, the guild stepped a few feet back, sensing Sakura's evil aura emerging.

"Ino-chan will kiss Sasuke-kun now!" Ino said happily, still speaking in third person as she made a move towards Sasuke's lips, while the Sin-X froze. _"Crap."_

"Why you little slut!" Sakura yelled, reacting violently as she pulled Ino away from Sasuke. "Get your hands off of him!"

Ino glared at Sakura. "How dare you call me a slut you plain Jane!"

"P-plain?! Did you just call me plain you whore?!"

"What did you call me?!"

Neji turned to Sasuke who stared at Sakura and Ino verbally assault each other.

"Right, I forgot to tell you that I invited them to join yesterday, since we needed a Whitesmith, and I doubt Chouji would join us without his friends."

"Neji..."

"...what?"

"Kill me, now."

And the Hyuuga just blinked as Sasuke suddenly felt a migraine while Sakura and Ino fought over him. Somehow, it was sure a lot better if Ino still loathed him.

* * *

A chuckle escaped his lips as he observed the group from afar.

"The Uchiha genes never fail, huh Sasuke?"

And he got up from his crouching position on the roof before heading off elsewhere.

"_Stay alive, little brother..." _his eyes narrowed. _"I need you to stay alive."_

_**To be continued...

* * *

**_

_Next on Resistance: Chapter 5: Rivalry_

"I'm going with Sasuke-kun!"

"Oh no you don't!" Sakura pulled Sasuke away from Ino's grasp. "He's going with me!"

"Why you-!" Ino pulled Sasuke back. "He's not going with you! He's going with me!"

Sasuke twitched as the two girls pulled him back and forth. He felt like a piece of rare item that people fought over.

"Why don't you both just go with him?" Kiba suggested. "We're an odd-numbered guild after all."

And Kiba just earned himself a spot on Sasuke's Death List.


	5. Rivalry

**Resistance**

She was annoyed, no doubt, at how everything turned out to be this way. She didn't mind sharing actually, in fact, she was the kind who'd even give her own share for someone, but this was different.

"Cheer up, will you? It's not like he's gonna dump you."

Her eyes narrowed at Tenten who sweat dropped when she sensed the dark aura coming from Sakura.

"Er... Sak?"

All of a sudden, the High Priestess' eyes went teary, and she pulled her knees up and hugged them, bowing her head to hide the sudden tears that dropped from her eyes.

"Sakura!" Tenten had no idea what to say to the girl. "Come on Sak, you know Sasuke more than we do, so..." she sighed, scratched the back of her head, and sighed again. "I give up..." she muttered.

"He's mad!" Sakura cried. "He didn't talk to me last night! He didn't say anything sweet or – or... wah!"

"...Sakura, he's also mad at Ino, if that helps..."

_Sniff._

"He is..?"

Tenten had to stop herself from laughing.

"He's pissed because you two keep on fighting over him for the past five days, like he's some kind of meat! And you two are hungry wolves!"

"But it's Ino's fault." She frowned. "She was the one who went all 'I hate the Uchiha clan' and suddenly goes 'I love Sasuke' and what's worse is... is..! Tenten! She called him _baby_! She also called him _sweetie_! And... and..! She called him Sasuke-_kun_!"

"Possessive much..?"

"Tenten!"

* * *

_**Chapter 5: Rivalry**_

"Hey guys!"

Sakura snarled, and immediately, Ino lost her cheerful mood and glared back.

The other members of the guild only sighed and went back to chilling around in Prontera.

"Hey, Neji, where's Sasuke anyway?" Kiba asked, yawning. "He did tell us that we'll meet here, but why did he specify the coordinates?"

"That's because there are lesser people in this area, compared to the other parts of Prontera." Neji muttered. "And he only told me that he has to meet up with a few people first."

Both Sakura and Ino's ears perked up all of a sudden.

"Who's he meeting with?" Kiba asked, bored for not doing anything and decided to just talk to the co-captain of the guild.

"Those ew members were recommended to him."

"And what is he gonna do about them? An interview?" Kiba yawned again. "Sucks..."

"No." Neji said. "He's going to challenge them, and if he wins, they can't be in the guild."

This caught their attention, and Neji had to sigh and explain once more.

"Since not a lot of people know about ANBU, most who don't have guilds aim to join ours since we're still an unknown guild. But you see, our goal is to climb up, so we need to recruit members who are worthy of the spot." He lied down on the ground. "And well, since there're three people who were recommended, if they lose to Sasuke, then their teamwork isn't efficient, or needed."

"I get it." Hinata said, smiling slightly. "Sasuke-nii plans to test their skills, and if they can defeat him, then they're qualified."

"Precisely." Neji looked down at his communicator, activating the map. "Hm, he's coming."

Everyone looked up when Sasuke arrived, his face, as always, void of any emotion.

"Seeing as you're alone, I'm guessing that they failed?" Neji asked, getting up.

"Tch. They're a pain." He muttered. "They can't even use their skills properly."

"What classes are they?" Neji asked. "And gender." He smirked, knowing that it mattered due to Sasuke's annoyance.

"One female Stalker, one female Creator, and one female Assassin Cross."

Neji ended up laughing, which was a surprise to the rest, since it was the first time they heard him laugh. Hinata, Tenten, and Sasuke were the only ones who didn't think it was unusual. "I'm starting to think that you got annoyed with them because they're also fighting over you!"

"Hn, just the Stalker and Creator."

"...Are Assassins really _that _emotionless?"

"No, you jackass." Sasuke muttered. "The Sin-X is a colleague of mine."

"So why didn't she pass?"

"Said something about her promise to her boyfriend."

"Class?" Neji asked.

"...Why does it matter?"

"Just answer me."

"...High Priest."

Neji smirked, yet again, and Sasuke glared at him.

"Kind of like you and Sakura, huh?"

Sasuke decided to just hit him on the head and tell the members of ANBU what they'll be doing for the day.

"Check your communicators to see who our new ally is." He told them, and they did.

"Are you kidding me?! The Phoenix Fire guild is like – the second best guild ever!" Kiba cried out enthusiastically. "How did you _ever _get them to side with us?! Man! You're so cool to get them! I heard they don't just become allies with anyone!" the grin left his face when he saw how Sasuke remained uncaring at the idea.

"Those guys..." he twitched. "Owe me a lot."

"Of what?" Chouji asked. "Money?"

"No." He muttered. "They always hire me to do some 'clean-up' missions, which is... always."

"...Don't they have their own assassins?" Sai asked, flipping a coin for no particular reason. "Or maybe a few Ninjas? If not a Gunslinger, Stalker, or Sniper?"

"First of all, only the Ninja and Assassin class have the permit to kill, and if caught by someone, can be let off the hook, due to their occupations. However, it's only if they have a client who issued the order, and not just because they wanted to kill."

"I see."

"Secondly, they have a Ninja, but she refuses the clean-up missions for personal reasons. They also have an Assassin Cross but he's usually fully booked with other assignments."

"...They only have one of each?"

"Yeah, since the other Assassin Cross is dead." He said bitterly, but the others got the hint that it was someone from his clan. "Their remaining Assassin Cross there was once my mentor, so he recommended me for the job, and eversince then, I always got called by their guild."

"How come you didn't join them?" Lee asked out of curiousity. "If a guild as great as that would actually hire you all the time, there's bound to be a membership open for you."

"I refused them the first time they invited me." He said.

"Is it because you'd rather have your own guild?" Naruto asked, also growing curious.

"No," he muttered. "There's no pay on your mission when you're a member, and they're one of the clients who pays a high amount of money, and often adds a bonus."

"Which explains the sudden fifty-million _budget_ we have." Neji added. "But that won't be enough, since we'd like to actually pay you guys for your loyalty and hard work in this guild."

"For now," Sasuke continued. "After every win from a war, you'll each get a million. But if we lose, I'll base it from how you did."

"Once our guild's budget is big enough, we can pay you double." Neji finished. "Now, back to our agenda for today?" He passed it back to Sasuke who sighed, hoping for the better for what he's about to say.

"I've just receive a notice from the King himself, and he's requested all guild leaders to tell his or her comrades to assist the new batch of novices, or first job classes." He cleared his throat a bit. "In other words, we're tanking today."

"Aww man," Kiba groaned. "So, we tank solo or duo?"

"Since there'll be a lot of guilds who will participate, the king suggested a partnership tank type, or a group consisting of four if we end up with two tankees."

"However, since we're still starting, a pair will be assigned to one tankee only." Neji finished, having received the notice as well since he was second-in-command. "So I suggest that we go for the offense and defense combination."

"That's going to be tough..." Tenten said. "So we'll need to partner up with someone who's better than us in terms of offense, or defense, right?"

"Yeah, we'll need to go for the balance." Neji stated. "Tenten, you're still my partner. I can do support skills, as well as defense, while you take offense."

"So I'm guessing I'm sticking with Hinata?" Kiba asked.

"Not this time Kiba," Sasuke said. "We have Shino, and Shikamaru, two High Wizards. Hinata, you'll have to go with Shino for now." He turned to Shikamaru, then eyed the other members. "You're sticking with Ino for now, sine you'll need a lot of Skill Point support."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru shrugged.

"Aww.. no way!" Ino protested, getting up from her spot and ignoring Sakura's glares. The blonde rushed towards Sasuke and hugged his arm, earning another violent reaction from Sakura.

"...Ino, now's not the time for-" Sasuke got cut off by the Gypsy.

"I'm going with Sasuke-kun!"

"Oh no you don't!" Sakura pulled Sasuke away from Ino's grasp. "He's going with me!"

"Why you-!" Ino pulled Sasuke back. "He's not going with you! He's going with me!"

Sasuke twitched as the two girls pulled him back and forth. He felt like a piece of rare item that people fought over.

"Why don't you both just go with him?" Kiba suggested. "We're an odd-numbered guild after all."

And Kiba just earned himself a spot on Sasuke's Death List.

"May I suggest a coin toss?" Sai offered with a smile.

"That's it!" Sasuke pulled his arms away from the two girls. "Sit back down!" and as soon as Ino and Sakura did, he continued. "Neji goes with Tenten, Hinata goes with Shino, while you," he turned to Ino. "Go with Shikamaru, don't even bother to force me to change my mind because it's made up." He sighed in a frustrated way and placed a hand on his head. "Geez, you're both giving me a migraine for the pass two days!"

"It's her fault for always reacting!" Ino pointed at Sakura who twitched.

"My fault? This whole thing started ever since you joined!"

"Hmph. What kind of a Priestess are you? You're not supposed to argue back!" she smirked. "In fact, shouldn't you be devoted to God only?"

Sakura twitched. "Are you saying that I shouldn't be with Sasuke?!"

"I'm saying you're supposed to leave him alone!"

"You're the one who's supposed to leave him alone because he's _my _boyfriend!"

"He's not yet your husband, so I can still have a chance!"

"Will you two just shut up?!" It didn't come from Sasuke, but rather, from Naruto. "Let's be serious about this, it's a tank job."

"Remind me to treat you to ramen later, Naruto." Sasuke muttered, earning a nod and a grin from the blonde. "Anyway, the reason for the assigned partnership is due to the location you're heading to." He turned to Tenten. "You and Neji will be stationed at Payon, and since you came from there, you know the place by heart, correct?"

"Yeah."

"And since the dungeons in Payon contains the undead, Neji's holy attacks will do well in assistance." He turned to Hinata. "You and Shino are assigned at Turtle Island dungeon. Most of the monsters there are elemental, so Shino, you'll be using a variety of your magic to help weaken the monsters while the tankee is attacking. Be aware of aggressive monsters. Hinata, make sure you keep their health levels more than half in case an MVP appears in your area."

"And us?" Shikamaru asked, yawning yet again.

"You'll be doing a lot of casting in case aggressive monsters attack, which is why Ino's support skills for Skill Points will come in handy. The two of you will be heading for Morroc field. Focus on fire and ice based attacks." He turned to Kiba. "Your partner will be Lee. While he takes on the attacks, you'll be covering his back, as well as the Tankee's, since you're assigned to an aggressive spot. Gonryun Dungeon is where you're station is, and be on the lookout for the MVP monster there called Evil Snake Lord."

"And for the rest of us?" Chouji asked.

"You're going with Sai and Naruto, since you're place is in the Morroc Pyramid." His eyes narrowed for a bit. "Chouji, there will be rare items there, you know what to do," He turned to Sai. "You'll be in-charge of range offense, while Naruto will play both offense and defense for being a vit type Paladin. Be cautious of Amon Ra or Osiris."

"Lastly," Neji said. "You all know how Glast Heim is usually dominated by High Priests and Assassin Crosses?"

They all nodded, getting what Neji meant.

"Sakura and I are assigned on that spot, since the monsters there are all weak against either Fire, Holy, or Poison, two of which I'm a pro of. There's also the possibility of the MVP Dark Lord making an appearance, and he's weak against Holy, and Fire properties." Sasuke finished.

"One question," Sai raised a hand. "I can understand if you're a pro in Poison properties, but what about Fire? How is that possible?"

"That's a secret you'll need to earn my trust for." Sasuke stated. "Although I'm supposed to have faith in all of you, some secrets are meant to be secrets, and only if I completely trust you, can I tell them."

"I'm fine with that." Sai said with a shrug.

"Alright, lastly, I want all of you to have more than enough blue potions, white potions, as well as Yggdrasil leaves. Also, never leave your tankee behind, there's a reason why you're paired up, so that one can assist the tankee to a safe spot in case of emergencies, while the other stays behind and stands his or her guard until he or she is sure that the tankee is safe. Our guild's name is on the line here, so don't blow it."

"Roger, Captain." Kiba said with a grin and a mock salute.

* * *

"For us to tank someone in Glast Heim," Sakura murmured. "I doubt it's a novice..."

"Novices can't even constantly hit the monsters there; it'll be too hard for them."

"So, what class are we tanking?" she asked, stopping when he looked at where their tankee stood.

"Her name's Seika, and she just became an Acolyte ten minutes ago."

"How did you know?"

"I have her bio here," He tapped his communicator. "Father Bamph was the one who sent me her data."

"How old is she?" Sakura asked, smiling when they reached the Acolyte with light brown hair in pigtails, who shyly bowed down to them in greeting. "12." Sasuke answered. "She's aiming for your type, a Full Support High Priestess."

"I see..." Sakura said. _"So that explains why we're here in GH. Seika would have to use her Heal skill to eliminate the undead, as well as use her Holy Light."_

Seika eyed the two, before smiling slightly. "I'm sorry if this causes too much trouble."

"Don't worry about it, we were once in need of tanking services too you know." Sakura assured. "So, let's get you prepared for the High Priestess job."

With a nod from Seika, Sakura opened a warp portal to GH.

"I'll go first, alright?" Sasuke said, entering the portal when Seika nodded. The Acolyte followed, and then Sakura entered last, closing the portal upon stepping into it.

Sakura spotted Sasuke blocking an Abysmal Knight from attacking Seika, while the Acolyte continuously used her Holy Light skill to eliminate the monster. It did little damage, and Sasuke did his best to keep the monster's attention on him and not on the Acolyte. Acting immediately, Sakura did her support skills, casting a barrier on Seika as well, before reducing the speed of the Abysmal Knight.

As soon as Seika was able to eliminate the monster, she sat down and sighed, checking her communicator with a frown. "I lack Skill Points..." she murmured, feeling down all of a sudden. She looked up when Sasuke ruffled her hair a bit. "It's only the beginning Seika, you'll grow stronger once you've finished off other monsters." He glanced at Sakura. "Mind creating a party to check her status?"

With a nod from the High Priestess, Sakura invited Sasuke and Seika to the party she formed, and now, she is able to take note of their Hit Points, and also pinpoint their location on the built-in map of her communicator, in case they get separated.

"Let's get going then." She said with a warm smile, keeping Seika close to her as Sasuke led the way inside GH.

As soon as they entered, Seika had clung to Sakura's arm and hid her face on the teen's sleeves upon seeing a Wraith approaching them. It attacked Sasuke, who stood still to keep its attention on him, the monster not being able to land constant hits onto the Assassin Cross. "Seika?" he turned to the little girl who remained unmoving as Sakura tried to coax her. "Ne, Sasuke-kun, get rid of it." She told him, sensing the fear from the Acolyte.

Understanding what Sakura meant, Sasuke wasted no time to get rid of the monster, also keeping away a few Mimics and Ghouls that had decided to target them.

"Seika, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, glancing at Sasuke from time to time to check if he was still okay.

"I'm scared." She whispered her eyes teary. "That Wraith..." she murmured, recalling the huge mouth that represented its body, the skull that acted as the head, and the skeletal arms and legs that kept it afloat while being clothed in a tattered cloak. "...It looked like it wanted to eat us."

Sakura's eyes softened at this, recalling how she first reacted to the Wraith as well when she was still an Acolyte being tanked by her mentor.

"Seika," She called out softly, stroking her hair. "That's why Sasuke-kun and I are here, we won't let any monster eat you."

"Really?" Seika asked.

"Really." Sakura nodded, smiling. "Besides, Sasuke-kun isn't letting one monster near us, see?" she gestured to the male Sin-X who easily got rid of the mob of Ghouls that went close to him.

When he was sure it was clear, Sasuke walked over to Seika and bent down to be in eye level with her. "Hey," he smiled slightly. "Do you find Diamonds pretty?" he asked. When she gave a nod, he showed her the Diamond on his palm, and her eyes sparkled in enthusiasm upon seeing the shiny jewelry. "You can get more of these when you eliminate a Wraith, Seika." He took her small hand and placed the item on her palm. "Also, those things won't eat you, much less get close to you," he gave her a quick wink. "I'll make sure you and Sakura are safe."

Seika smiled, and gave a nod, holding the Diamond close to her chest with two hands. "Thank you nii-chan."

* * *

"Hic!"

"Geez, you're drunk again."

"Shut up, you old pervert!"

"Tsunade, as the guild master of Phoenix Fire, you can't be seen like this."

"You shut up too, you old snake!" Tsunade snapped, her words slurred. "I'm old enough to take care of myself, so don't worry." She waved her hand dismissively at the two. "Hmph. A Champion being scolded by a perverted Paladin and a snakey Lord Knight!"

The Paladin twitched, and the Lord Knight just sighed.

"Why don't you go amuse girls like you usually do," Tsunade told the Paladin. "And you, why don't you go do... things!"

"Orochi, can't we just leave her alone?"

"Stop calling me that, Jiraiya. And no, we can't, not when she's like this." Orochimaru muttered. "Otherwise, she'll be challenging anyone who accidentally pisses her off, or bumps into her."

"Well, you got that right..." Jiraiya blinked. "Why are we in GH again?"

Tsunade smirked in a drunken way and turned to her male companions. "Our Ally's guild leader is there! Why else would we be here?"

"...Tsunade, Sasuke is currently tanking someone, we can't interrupt him to do another clean-up mission." Orochimaru stated.

"Pfft. I'm not going to bug him for a mission! I'm going to annoy him for fun!"

"Hmm... now that you mention it," Jiraiya grinned. "When Sasuke's around, there's bound to be lots of girls!"

"I doubt that Jiraiya, we're in GH. The only girls you'll be spotting are emotionless Assassins, and Priestesses with a bad temper once you annoy them."

"Hey! The female Assassin Cross' costume reveals enough!" he grinned in a perverted way. "And don't get me started on the slits of the dresses of the Priestesses! Specifically the High Priestesses! Wow! Even the chest area tightly emphasizes their bust size!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Tsunade grunted. "Just let me bug that Sin-X! I want to have my fun this time!"

* * *

"Sasuke, we have to go!"

"Get Seika out of here first!" Sasuke repeated, not keeping his eyes off of the MVP monster that suddenly appeared. Comparing his attack speed to the Dark Lord monster, he has a better chance of winning, provided that it doesn't use any skills. So far, it has yet to attack, since Sasuke kept stepping a few feet back while it continued approaching. "Sakura, get out of here! Now!"

"But-"

"That's an order!" he added, still glaring at the monster, before rushing in to charge.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called out, keeping Seika close to her.

"I said get the hell out of here!" Sasuke yelled, turning to her with narrowed orbs. Sakura noticed that he activated his Sharingan, which meant that he was dead serious about keeping the MVP's attention on him for her and Seika to escape, and also meant that he was getting angry at her stubbornness.

"_I can't leave you here alone...", _she thought, eyes worried. _"I just can't!"_ she held Seika closer. "Ne, Seika, don't wander too far, okay? Stay close." She whispered to the girl, before getting up. She performed Sanctuary on where Seika stood to keep other monsters away from her. She also performed Assumptio on the Acolyte to protect her from attacks, in case the Sanctuary skill wears off. Afterwards, she turned to Sasuke who was busy in avoiding the attacks of the MVP, at the same time, throw in his own attack.

"Agi up!" she increased Sasuke's agility, and then healed him, afterwards, cast a barrier on him. She increased the damage of his weapon, and also performed Magnificat so that his and her Skill Point recovery will be faster. She healed him again, at the same time, took in some blue potions to keep her Skill Point full.

"Damn it." She heard him curse, glancing at her for a while before turning back to the MVP. "I told you to take Seika and get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving you behind Sasuke!"

"Tch. You're too stubborn!" he jumped a few feet away from the MVP and changed his weapon. "Just go!"

"I said I won't leave you and that's my final decision!"

"You're being annoying, Sakura!"

"I don't care! I'm staying to support you and that's that!"

Sasuke cursed under his breath and threw a few Kunai of Fierce Heat, which exploded upon contact with the Boss monster, damaging it greatly since it was weak against Fire. "Since you're sticking around, do some Holy attacks!"

Seika acted fast and performed Holy Light, smiling sheepishly at the two teens who were shocked at what she did. Sasuke quickly got an idea.

"Sakura, stay within your Sanctuary cell to keep you and Seika alive, at the same time," he dodged an assault from the Dark Lord. "Keep me alive while Seika is performing Holy Light against this thing, she can gain more experience this way."

"Mm, I got it." Sakura healed Sasuke, took a few steps back to where Seika stood to keep her protected, and then used her Buff skills on Sasuke. _"We can do this if we work together..."_ she thought firmly.

_Ne, Sasuke-kun! Let's make a promise!_

She remembered what she told him back when they were still kids.

_Be a Paladin someday! Or a Lord Knight! The Swordie and Acolyte classes always compliment each other!_

But since he couldn't keep his promise, and since there have been lesser Swordsman and Acolyte partnerships...

_Someday, we'll be an unbeatable duo, Sasuke-kun! You and I can defeat a boss monster when the time comes! Let's promise that that day will come!_

"We can do this." She whispered to herself.

Assassins and Priests have been partnered lately, and they've formed a much deadlier duo compared to the Swordie and Acolyte class. Since Assassins are quick to kill, and due to the support skills the Priests have, an Assassin paired with a Priest can take down an MVP in GH when they do their best.

* * *

"Shouldn't we butt in?" Jiraiya asked, watching how Sakura continued to support Sasuke, who attacked non-stop, while their tankee helped out as best as she can. "That's still an MVP even if they're both a deadly duo."

"No." Tsunade smirked, appearing to be much more sober than earlier. "I want to see how Mikoto has trained her son."

"What if they lose?" Orochimaru asked, brows furrowing in concern.

"Then that's the time we jump in." Tsunade said. "But you'll see," she added confidently. "You'll see how strong their bond is."

Orochimaru and Jiraiya immediately turned to watch when Sakura called Sasuke's name urgently.

They saw how the Sin-X had fallen on one knee, panting yet still glaring with Sharingan eyes at the Dark Lord.

"Sasuke, you have to stop!" Sakura yelled. "Let's go!"

The three watched as the Assassin closed his eyes, breathed in for a while, before opening them again, eyes still red.

"He's in Soul mode." Tsunade observed. "He's planning to do a Final Strike attack..." she smirked. "That's risky, if he doesn't kill the MVP at that Final Strike."

"Sakura," Sasuke called out. "Get your Heal ready." But before he did a Final Strike, he first performed a few Fire based skills. "Crimson Fire Blossom." He brought two of his hands together and formed a seal as petals surrounded the MVP, before exploding all together. While still holding the hand seal, he performed another skill. "Crimson Fire Formation." Where the Dark Lord was standing, fire suddenly erupted, hitting the MVP non-stop to prevent it from performing any skill, or even attempt to teleport away for safety. _"I won't let you escape after the hell you made us went through." _he thought with narrowed eyes. "Dragon Fire Formation!"

Sasuke was able to summon a Fire Dragon as it attacked the boss monster three times. As soon as the third attack was delivered, Sasuke told Sakura to heal him, and when she did, he jumped, Sharingan still activated, before performing his last skill. "Final Strike!" and as soon as he delivered a strong attack against the boss, he fell back to the ground, landing on one-knee, turned his head to smirk upon seeing the MVP cry out and slowly fade, signaling that he has defeated it.

He stood up on his feet, staggered a bit before falling back down, his eyes turning back to their original color as he panted heavily, checking his Hit Points, smirking a bit upon seeing what the effects of the Final Strike did. Apparently, once you deliver it, you'll need to be healed immediately to avoid getting killed, or perhaps be sure that the opponent will be dead before you die. The Final Strike may cause a great deal of damage to the opponent, but it will drain 99 percent of your Hit Points.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura rushed to him after informing Seika to remain on the Sanctuary cell. "Are you alright?" she kneeled down before him on both knees, grasping his shoulders to give her a good view of how he looked. "That last attack took a toll on you..." she murmured, before healing him to get him back to tip top shape.

"Hn." He smirked at her. "Mission complete."

She blinked, tilted her head slightly, before realizing what he meant.

"I kept one promise, Sakura." He said, and handed an Old Purple Box to her. "Open it." He told her with a smirk.

"...You already know what's in it, right?" she asked, taking the item from him.

"Open it." He repeated.

She did, and her eyes widened upon seeing a Witherless Rose in it.

"Heh. Stop being jealous of Ino, alright?" he kissed her lightly on her forehead. "I'm just lucky that killing the MVP is really worth it."

"Sasuke-kun..." she felt her eyes grow watery.

"Even if I'm mad at you, for what you and Ino have been doing, it doesn't mean that I'll stop loving you."

They heard someone snort, and they turned, seeing Tsunade with her arms crossed, cheeks red from being drunk, and a smirk on her lips as she eyed the childhood sweethearts. Orochimaru stood to her left, face impassive, but eyes clearly showing that he was amazed at the MVP's defeat.

Sasuke glared when Jiraiya had a goofy grin on his lips, his face red, and blood slightly trickling down from his nose when his eyes were on Sakura – specifically eyeing her chest and her legs.

"I knew you had it in you." Tsunade spoke, glancing at Jiraiya. "And stop undressing Sakura with your eyes you pervert!" and she punched him on the face.

"Hn." Sasuke got up with Sakura as Seika rushed to the High Priestess. "To what do I owe this visit from the three legendary Adventurers?"

"Nothing, really." Jiraiya said. "But I came here since you're here, and when you're here, girls are sure to flock."

A twitch. "How you became a Paladin is beyond me."

"Brat, are you insulting me?!"

Tsunade elbowed the Paladin on the ribs, hard. "Anyway, Sasuke, you do know that you just revealed your identity, as well as unleashed your secret as a hybrid class." She frowned. "You're lucky that this area of GH is currently abandoned by most people, due to the Dark Lord's sudden appearance." Her scowl turned to a smirk afterwards. "I'm amazed at how you and Sakura worked together," she glanced at Seika and smiled. "Also at the spunk this kid's got."

"Thank you." Seika bowed down a bit and smiled back. "I wanted to help them out, since they've been giving me courage to face the monsters here." She glanced at her communicator. "Nii-chan, ne-chan!" she looked up at her tankers excitedly. "I have enough experience to take the Priestess course!"

"Sakura, why don't you take Seika to Prontera and help her out? Also," Tsunade turned to her two companions. "Take them with you. I need to talk to Sasuke alone, it's important."

"Um... okay..." She seemed uneasy in traveling with Jiraiya.

"Don't worry," Orochimaru assured the pink-haired teen, as well as the skeptical look from Sasuke. "I'll keep this pervert's hands to himself, he turned to Jiraiya. "As well as his eyes."

"Hn." Sasuke gave a nod and glared at Jiraiya. "Touch her, or even look at her the wrong way, and I swear, I won't hesitate to murder you."

"Fine, fine, it's not like you'll get away with it if you kill me." Jiraiya snorted.

"Sure he can," Tsunade said with a sadistic grin. "I'll confess to the King that you provoked him so that he can be let off the hook."

* * *

"I can't believe that girl..!"

"It's your fault."

"Orochi..!"

"Don't call me that."

Sakura laughed at the two and turned to Seika as they walked ahead of the two males. "So, what made you want to become a Priestess?"

"I wanted to help people out, and also, it seems that a lot of Acolyte classes charge for every healing, support skills, or warps." Seika frowned. "I don't want to be like them..."

"That's true." Sakura stopped once they reached Prontera church. "Well Seika, this is where I leave you." Sakura knelt down and smiled at the girl. "Take care of yourself and... just give me a beep if you need help, okay?"

"Thank you ne-chan." She smiled back and rushed to the church, eager to become a Priestess.

"So, now what?" Jiraiya asked, arms crossed as the High Priestess got back up and turned to the two. "We were told to escort you after all."

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine from here on out."

Orochimaru didn't look convinced for a moment, but nodded none the less as he and Jiraiya walked off elsewhere, while Sakura decided to walk around town for a bit, in hopes of searching for a gift for Sasuke. _"Yeah, I ought to stop being jealous of Ino."  
_

* * *

"I won't bother asking how you got access here."

Tsuande smirked haughtily as she whispered the password to a guard that stood with cautious eyes, before letting the two of them in once the female Champion had said the code.

"The Rogue guild is the best place to hide these kinds of information, as well as important people." She glanced at him. "The Assassin guild's members, as you know, have decreased due to your clan's massacre, so it's not a sure safe place."

"What's in here anyway?" Sasuke asked, wanting to change the topic. "It has to be connected to me for you to take me here without anyone else with us."

For a moment, she had a look that stated that she was debating whether to tell him or not, but upon reaching the last door, she turned to look at him. "I was supposed to tell you earlier, but it wasn't the right place and the right time, not to mention that your brother is a suspect for the death of the clan."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Itachi was spotted by Asuma, and the two got engaged in a conversation, which led to a full blown surprise."

"What kind of surprise are you talking about Tsunade?"

"Your brother was badly wounded, and he was running away from the Crusaders that Prontera sent to capture him." She sighed. "He begged Asuma to save her, and keep her safe."

"Her..?"

Before the blonde woman could speak, they heard yelling from behind the door, and soon, it opened as a child came running out, crying her eyes out as she screamed for her father. Tsunade made a move to grab her, but missed, so Sasuke blocked the way to prevent the child from running, thinking that she was of vital importance to locate his brother.

"Let me go! I... I want my daddy!" she bawled, punching Sasuke's chest as he grunted for a bit and kept his hold on her a bit tighter. "Hey, hey, sshhh..." he tried to calm her down by carrying her in his arms as if she was his own. He ran one of his hands up and down her back to get her to stop crying when she began choking on her own sobs. "Daddy... I want my daddy!"

"Sshhh..." he tried to comfort her, and she looked up at him, he was shock at what she said next.

"Daddy..."

* * *

"Ow. Man..." Kiba groaned. "My neck hurst like hell!"

"Where's our guild leader anyway?" Naruto asked Neji who shrugged, glancing at Sakura when she arrived with a big smile on her face. Everyone watched as she hummed silently to herself.

"What's gotten into you?" Tenten asked. "And how come Sasuke's not with you?"

Sakura blinked, eyed them for a moment, before speaking. "You mean he's not yet back?"

"Did you two get separated?" Neji asked.

"Well, no, we encountered the Dark Lord, got rid of it, so I escorted our tankee to Prontera Church for a job change, while Phoenix Fire's guild leader asked Sasuke to go with her to discuss over something important."

"For Tsunade to do so..." Neji trailed off, knowing what it could be about. "Anyway, I'm sure he'd be back soon."

Tenten then went towards Sakura and grinned. "So, what's got you so happy? No longer on a jealous streak?"

Sakura giggled and winked playfully at Tenten. "Look what he got me." She showed her the Witherless Rose, and Tenten gasped, and sat down next to Sakura as she tried to control her eagerness. "My gosh, Sakura! That's a symbol of eternal love!"

"I know!" the High Priestess said, smiling brightly. "And he told me to not be jealous, saying that even if he's mad, he'll never stop loving me."

"That's so sweet of him!"

Ino twitched when she heard their conversation, and she grumbled, glaring at Sai who chuckled at her misfortune.

"I told you," He said. "Sasuke wouldn't dare break up with Sakura."

"Don't rub it in." Ino muttered, pulling her legs closer to her. "They're not yet married, so I'm not yet giving up."

Sai lost his smile at this, and slightly narrowed his eyes at the blonde girl. "Ino, don't interfere with them, they're happy together." He sighed. "And besides, why do you like Sasuke? You loathed him at first..."

"I don't know..." She trailed off, looking elsewhere. "Maybe the fact that... he didn't fight me, even when I insulted his clan... maybe it's because he listened to my story first, or perhaps it's how he... tried to atone for someone else's sins..."

"Ino, that's idolization."

"I don't care!" She snapped. "As long as they're not yet bound by matrimony, I'll do whatever it takes to get him!"

Sai gave a frustrated sigh and gave up trying. "This is the one time I won't support your decision."

Eveyone looked up when Sasuke arrived, but what caught their attention was not his presence, but because of the child who held his hand in a firm grip, and due to the katana strapped onto his back, and the way his eyes looked a bit colder than ever.

"Sasuke... who..?" Neji couldn't finish his question when Sasuke beat him to it.

"This is Chiaki," He introduced the child. "And... she's my daughter."

_**To be continued...  
**_

* * *

_Next on Resistance: Chapter 6: Atonement_

"Tell me the truth." Sakura said, eyes brimming with tears. "Did you have a relationship with someone before me?"

"No." He said, still refusing to look at her.

"Then, you slept with another woman, which is the reason for Chiaki being born in this world..."

He sighed and looked at her, debating if he should tell her or not.

"Do you... really love me?" she asked. "Because I do, and... if you want to go raise Chiaki with her real mother, I'll have to... let you go..."

"Stop it." He said, shutting his eyes and turning his head elsewhere. "Just... stop it." He took a deep breathe in, and sighed it all out. "Chiaki is... she's..."

"Don't say that she's a mistake." Sakura said firmly. "No child deserves to be called a mistake..."


	6. Atonement

**Resistance**

Things didn't turn out the way he had hoped.

He expected everyone to be shocked of what he said, but he didn't expect Sakura to suddenly refuse to talk to him, or even be near him. He was at least glad that she spoke to Chiaki at times, showing everyone that she was in good terms with the child.

He watched as Sakura talked with Chiaki with a bright smile, even to a point of lending the child her smokie hat, making Chiaki smile when she put it on. Sakura sure had a way with kids, and the sight of his girlfriend and Chiaki made him smile a bit.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Sasuke looked up at Neji, then back at Sakura and Chiaki.

"Not right now," He said. "I'll tell you some other time."

"Alright," Neji nodded. "But you need to clarify things with Sakura, you sure dampened her mood."

"I know..." Sasuke lowered his head a bit, and then turned to the katana that rested on his crossed legs, before his grip on the weapon tightened. "I know."

* * *

_**Chapter 6: Atonement**_

"Sak," he called her, and she looked up from Chiaki to Sasuke. "I need to talk to you, alone." He said when he saw how Chiaki made a move to get up.

"No fair." The child pouted.

"Sorry Chiaki," Sasuke said. "Stay with your uncle Neji for the time being."

"Okay..."

Sasuke then turned to Sakura who had her head lowered as she stood and walked next to him, but he noted how she kept her distance, and he knew that he will have to explain everything to her, or perhaps find a way for her to get the idea.

So, he led her to an empty field to avoid anyone from eavesdropping.

"You... want to ask me anything to start of?"

She shook her head, so he decided to just talk.

"My brother was spotted." He began, as they sat down on the grass next to each other, a few feet away. "Asuma encountered him when he was trying to escape from the Crusaders that were after his head, and that's when Chiaki came in." He glanced at her, seeing how she still kept her head lowered, but gave a nod as a sign that she was listening. "Tsunade took me to the Rogue Guild, where they kept Chiaki safe and away from harm, it's also there that I got the katana that was stolen from my clan." He sighed. "My brother apparently defeated an Akatsuki member, but is still accused for killing the clan, so he tried to get away. In reality, he's innocent, and that Akatsuki is responsible for the death of the clan, with an outside party involved."

"How sure are you?"

Well, she finally spoke.

"...My brother handed Asuma a letter for me to read. Right now, I'm not sure if he's still alive."

"And Chiaki..?"

"He... asked me to keep her safe."

"You should." She said. "She's your daughter, but why was she with your brother?"

He did not look at her. "I-"

"Tell me the truth." Sakura said, eyes brimming with tears. "Did you have a relationship with someone before me?"

"No." He said, still refusing to look at her.

"Then, you slept with another woman, which is the reason for Chiaki being born in this world..."

He sighed and looked at her, debating if he should tell her or not.

"Do you... really love me?" she asked. "Because I do, and... if you want to go raise Chiaki with her real mother, I'll have to... let you go..."

"Stop it." He said, shutting his eyes and turning his head elsewhere. "Just... stop it." He took a deep breathe in, and sighed it all out. "Chiaki is... she's..."

"Don't say that she's a mistake." Sakura said firmly. "No child deserves to be called a mistake..."

"I was not going to-"

"You should go. I understand..." She murmured, getting up and turning her back to him. "I... you can't neglect your responsibility as Chiaki's father."

He grabbed her hand, and her eyes widened when he had her on the ground and kissed her.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Naruto said as Chiaki giggled at how Naruto can't seem to understand everything completely. "Sasuke is trying to cover something, at the request of his brother, and you know what's up..."

"Yup."

"Then... who's your mother?"

She giggled again. "You don't know her! Only daddy and I know her!"

"Yeah but... what's her job?"

Chiaki grinned. "Mommy is a ninja, and I want to be like her!"

"Hmm... your hair color would suit the outfit." Naruto murmured, staring at the fiery red hair of Chiaki that was pulled up in a high ponytail, while her bangs framed her face. "But you'll have to apply as a novice."

She shook her head. "Daddy said it's not the right time."

"Eh? With Sasuke, everything seems to not always be the right time."

"No, not him." Chiaki said, smiling yet again at the puzzled look Naruto gave. "Daddy was the one who said it."

Neji's ears twitched, and so did the rest of the guild members who were present.

"Yeah, I'm not saying that Sasuke didn't say so..." Naruto blinked. "Huh?! I don't get it!"

"Neither do I..." Hinata voiced out, brows creasing together. "I don't understand..."

Chiaki sighed and placed a hand on her hips. "Daddy said it's not the right time for me to apply as a novice!" she repeated. "It was daddy who said so."

"...Chiaki," Neji began. "Tell me, Sasuke is... not your..."

"Nope!" Chiaki grinned, relieved that someone finally understood. "He's daddy's little brother! He's only doing what daddy asked him to do!"

"..."

It was silent, before Naruto yelled: "WHAT?!"

Chiaki laughed out loud at Naruto's face and reaction. "Daddy knows uncle Sasuke would keep me safe, and to hide my identity and connection to daddy, daddy requested uncle to introduce me as uncle's daughter." She grinned. "But auntie Sakura was sad, because she thinks I'm uncle Sasuke's daughter, and I really, really wanted to tell her the truth, but uncle suddenly came to talk to her..." she beamed at the teenagers who gaped. "I called uncle Sasuke 'daddy' because he looked like daddy!"

"Er... so Sasuke didn't sleep with some random girl..." Naruto clarified.

"Hmm? What does that mean..?" Chiaki asked, blinking, wondering what was wrong if someone slept beside a girl. She sleeps next to her daddy all the time, until now that is.

"Nothing!" Naruto exclaimed with a nervous laugh. "So, you're Sasuke's niece, huh? Looks like Sakura worried over nothing."

"Chiaki, if you don't mind me asking..." Neji bent down a bit to be in eye level with the child. "What happened inside the Rogue's guild?"

"Well..."

* * *

_**Flashback:**_

_Tsunade and the two Rogues remained silent and staring as Sasuke pulled away a bit to look at the child, seeing how she rubbed her eyes, how red her face was, and how she looked so much like Itachi – minus the red hair._

"_No way..." he said, barely above a whisper._

_Tsunade nodded once, still refusing to speak, before the child turned her eyes to Sasuke. He saw how dark her orbs were, just like his and Itachi's, noticed how those eyes widened when she looked at him. _

"_You're... daddy's little brother..." she said upon realizing the slight resemblance he had with Itachi, and as what everyone suspected, she hugged him and cried. "I want to see daddy! Take me to daddy! I don't like this place! I... I want my daddy!"_

"_How old is she?" Sasuke asked, turning to Tsunade._

"_She's barely five years old."_

"_Wait, are you saying that even before the massacre..?"_

"_That's why we needed to know, was your brother in a relationship back then?"_

_Sasuke glanced at the child, then back at Tsunade. "None that I know of..." he trailed off, turning back to his niece. "But... how is this connected to the massacre..? She's not proof that Itachi is innocent or guilty!"_

"_Think, Uchiha." Tsunade said. "Is there a specific rule in your clan that will do any harm to the child and Itachi's spouse or lover, or whatever, if he brought them home?"_

"_..." Sasuke thought for a moment, before recalling the first rule he got rid off when his mother told him that he would be the clan leader as of now. "The clan's rule in terms of starting a family..." he narrowed his orbs. "Itachi knew that his lover and daughter would be accepted in the clan, but not as family, rather, they would be treated as..." he paused, glanced at the child who looked up at him in anticipation._

"_Do you think that it would be the trigger for him to kill?"_

"_...No." Sasuke said firmly. "My brother is not a heartless person, and besides," he looked at Tsunade. "He could have just ran away with his family, he didn't need to kill the clan for it, and not only that, if this child is really barely five years old, then he's kept his affairs for four years at minimum." He sighed. "It's not piecing together, it doesn't make any sense."_

"_Which means..." Tsunade smirked when Sasuke finally got it._

"_My brother is innocent." His grip on his niece tightened a bit, but not enough to hurt the kid. "Someone obviously knew of his affairs, and that person intended to accuse my brother for the death of the clan. All this time..." Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Itachi's been after the suspect, he knew something was going to happen on that day, which is why he did not stop me from leaving to meet Sakura, he made sure I'd stay alive to keep the clan under our name, he knew I'd make a decision of letting everyone know that no one survived..."_

"_You and your brother are both prodigies, no doubt about it." Tsunade turned back to the Rogues who nodded and went back to the room to retrieve something. "Your bond with your brother is strong, despite the distance, and now that you've figured it out, this can be given to you." She took a letter from one of the Rogues, as well as a weapon that once stayed within the confines of Uchiha clan's shrine from the other Rogue. "Read this first before you take the weapon back." She took the child from him, who at first resisted, but upon seeing her uncle's small smile, she silently let the female Champion hold her._

_Sasuke then turned to the letter in his hands, before opening it to read the contents._

_**End of Flashback  
**_

* * *

"Sasuke..." she whispered when he pulled away. "I don't think..." she trailed off when his grip tightened on her. "You shouldn't..." she couldn't say it, or rather, she didn't want to say it. She may have been a High Priestess, but she wanted him all for herself, she didn't want him to leave her for Chiaki's mother, she wanted him to stay by her side, just like before.

"What do I have to do..?" he asked, his voice sounded desperate as he kissed her, then pulled away to speak. "What do I need to do to prove to you that I love you and only you?" he leaned his forehead to hers and closed his eyes, her doing the same as their hands found each other and their fingers intertwined. "Tell me..." he continued. "Anything, just tell me what... I'll do anything..."

"Stay with me."

"I promise."

"Don't go..."

"I won't."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers feeling him, touching him as both their eyes opened to gaze at each other.

"I love you..." She whispered. "So please..."

"I won't leave you. Never again..." he said, kissing her softly. "I love you too much..."

"Sasuke, please." She looked at him. "Can't we seal this now?"

He eyed her for a while, unsure how to answer.

"I don't want anything or anyone forcing us apart, or to keep our distance."

"Sakura," she met his eyes, and he smiled. "Let's get married."

* * *

He tapped his foot impatiently, before looking up when he heard two people coming.

"Finally!" he yelled. "Didn't you two hear me knocking?!"

"Knocking?"

"Weren't you and Sasuke in the inn?"

"No," She shook her head. "We actually took a walk around."

"Oh, no wonder you weren't answering…" Naruto said, sighing. "Well, teme!" he turned to Sasuke who flinched from the Paladin's voice. "You didn't tell us that she's not your daughter! How could you?!"

Sakura blinked, and then looked at Sasuke who sighed. "She's my brother's daughter, but Itachi told me to introduce her as my own."

"Why?!"

"Naruto, will you tone down?!"

"Right…"

Sasuke grunted. "It's to keep his whereabouts safe, and so that no once can use Chiaki against him." He glanced at Sakura who gave a sigh of relief. "And… there's something else we should let you all know."

"Holy crap! You got her pregnant didn't you?! Didn't you?!"

Cue Sakura's staff making contact with Naruto's head. "For the last time Naruto," She twitched. "Do you honestly think we're that desperate?!"

Naruto frowned and nursed his wound. "Anybody could think that! You two are always snuggled up against each other! It's actually a miracle that teme has yet to insert his freakin-" he got a kick from Sasuke. "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"If my niece starts saying _things_," his eyes shifted to sharingan as he glared at Naruto and hissed in a low voice: "You're dead."

Chiaki could only tilt her head and tug at Neji's wardrobe, asking him why Naruto called Sasuke a bastard, and what it meant, and what the Paladin was talking about when he said 'insert his freakin'.

"…Ask your uncle Sasuke." Neji murmured, coughing.

* * *

"Eh? Are you serious?!"

"Yes, Tsunade, Kiba dropped by earlier to report the news."

"Wow, funny how Orochi always finds out first."

"Shut up Jiraiya, stop calling me that." He frowned, before turning back to the guild leader. "What do you think?"

Tsunade grinned. "I think it's about time!" she exclaimed with a raised fist. "Get the whole guild together and we can give them a surprise!"

Jiraiya turned to Orochimaru who sweat dropped and twitched. "She doesn't know, does she?"

"Indeed." Orochimaru sighed. "Assassins do not react too well with surprises.

And that night, as Orochimaru said, Sasuke had instinctively shot out multiple daggers to the Phoenix Fire guild members who surprised them in the nearby pub.

"That was uncalled for Uchiha!" Tsunade snarled, holding Sasuke up by his scarf. "You almost embed a dagger onto my forehead!!"

He just eyed her with a bored look. "Hnn…"

"All you can say is 'hnn'?! HNN?!"

"No."

"Don't make me punch you Uchiha!" She snarled.

"Anou, I think you're just drunk." Sakura tried to pacify Tsunade. "And I think I'd like my fiancé to be present for our wedding tomorrow."

"Hmph. You're lucky Sakura is here." Tsunade hissed, letting Sasuke go and heading back to the counter to order more beer.

Sasuke glanced at Sakura when she was still grinning at him. "What..?" and she only laughed. "Ch. Instincts." He muttered, already knowing the reason behind her hysteria. But he felt pretty embarrassed after nearly killing the guild Tsunade handled, but it was purely on instincts. After all, Assassins are not meant to be surprised, because they are trained to be ready for what is to come, but right now, he isn't sure if he's ready to seal the deal with Sakura when danger is just around the corner.

"Sakura, can we… talk first?" he asked, looking at her.

She gave a nod and let him lead her out of the pub, their friends not noticing how they snuck out into the night.

Prontera was beautiful whether it was in the morning, afternoon, or evening – and Sakura loved to stroll around town because it made her forget how harsh life really is.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked him as they reached the field, all the way out of the vicinity of Prontera. "You seem pretty serious about it. Should I start worrying?"

He shook his head and smiled slightly. "If you're thinking that I'm backing out, then you're wrong." He held her hand and had their fingers intertwined. "I'm more worried about what will happen after the ceremony."

"Why?" she asked, pulling his hand to her chest and holding onto it tightly for comfort.

"Akatsuki." He said. "I'm sure by now that they're aware of my existence, as well as my brother's and Chiaki's." his eyes narrowed as they landed on the full moon. "And in just knowing who I am, you and the rest are dragged into this mess."

"It doesn't matter." She told him. "I'd rather face the dangers with you, than be safe without you."

He couldn't help but smile at her answer, yet it didn't lessen his worries even for a bit.

"Hey, Sakura," he glanced at her. "Is it alright if… I just marry you right now, without the others?"

"I don't really care where or when," she admitted. "But tell me, why?"

Sasuke pulled her to an embrace as they eyed the playful Porings and Lunatics that were present in the field. "Our guild plus Tsunade's, and I'm pretty sure there will be other people present tomorrow, it would be harder to stay on guard or be alert of any danger that is to come."

"Then," she pulled away and looked up at him with a smile. "Let's go to Prontera Church."

"How sweet."

The couple was startled that they turned to the new voice, Sasuke instantly narrowing his eyes and stepping before Sakura.

"And that act is even sweeter."

"You." Sasuke seethed, having seen the person back in the dungeons of Morroc's pyramid.

He gave a haughty smirk. "Yes, me." he turned to Sakura. "And you're with her again, eh?"

Sasuke furrowed his brows. _"He wasn't a Paladin, he's a Lord Knight." _His fists clenched. _"It's a lot harder to fight against their type."_

"Not to worry," he took out his two-handed sword, the same weapon that came from the Assassin's now deceased clan. "I was only sent to kill you and spare the girl," he smirked. "We have other uses for a High Priestess of her caliber."

"Before that happens," Sakura looked at Sasuke when he had the blades of his katar appear with one swift motion of his arms. "I'm sending you to hell."

And when Sakura blinked, Sasuke was already behind the Lord Knight as he performed his Soul Destroyer, managing to get a good hit at his opponent, who was thrown back by the assault, laughing sinisterly as he got back up.

"I shouldn't have underestimated you." He began to glow after performing the Concentration skill, causing Sasuke to quickly move towards Sakura and tell her to keep a safe distance away, knowing that she wouldn't even leave him alone even if he told her to run. "After all, you're Itachi's little brother." He felt the effect of his skill activate, which increased his attack speed and hit rates. He used his next skill, Parrying, which would automatically deflect any attack with the use of his swords – this skill is pretty helpful for those who are up against Assassins at the same level as Sasuke and Itachi, and the younger of the Uchiha brothers knew that this Lord Knight meant serious business. "I'm coming to get you, Uchiha Sasuke."

Without warning, he ran at a fast pace, Sasuke cursing and rushing head on to also give out an attack of his own.

Sakura cast her support skills on Sasuke, doubling his speed with Agility Up, afterwards, used her Imposito Manus on him to add the attack strength of his weapon. To balance out the enemy's Parrying, Sakura performed Kyrie Eleison on both herself and Sasuke to stop block any attack. Next, to keep both her and Sasuke's skill points from emptying, she used her Magnificat skill to increase to SP restoration a bit faster. Her eyes went over to their opponent, and she used Lex Divina to silence him and prevent him from using anymore skills, and also Lex Aeterna to double the damage he will be receiving from Sasuke's attacks.

"Hmph. Quite the skilled Priestess you are." He muttered, his Parrying still active, which gave him an advantage during his weakened state after Sakura's skills.

"Sonic Acceleration." Sasuke used his skill to increase the hit and damage rate of his Sonic Blow, performing it on the Lord Knight twice to be able to take advantage of Sakura's skills' effects.

In swift movements, he moved behind his enemy and took out a red gemstone, using the skill of Venom Dust, effectively poisoning his target.

When he felt the Kyrie Eleison wear off, Sasuke used Back Slide to get himself away from the sword attack. He used one part of the blade as leverage to deliver a round house kick to his enemy's head, effectively removing the helmet which hid the man's face.

"Only a coward hides his face in front of an enemy." Sasuke managed to say, doing a back flip in order for Sakura to cast another set of her buff skills on him.

"Says the man who wears a Fox mask during missions." The Lord Knight chuckled, getting up from his kneeling position to reveal predominantly blue skin, gills for cheeks, and beady eyes. "I guess since you've seen my face, introductions must be made." He kicked the discarded helmet to the side and stepped forward. "I am Hoshigake Kisame, the Dark Lord Knight of Akatsuki." he had his feet apart as his sword glowed after using "Aura Blade", increasing the damage the weapon will be inflicting, as well as be successful in hitting Sasuke despite the high defense Sakura had him on, yet the flee rate of the critical Assassin before him will balance out this skill. It will be hard to deliver a blow to an Assassin Cross like Sasuke, who happens to have a full support High Priestess.

No doubt about it, a Sin-X and High Priest are a deadly combo.

"My leader sent me here," wind picked up as it surrounded him like a tornado, and from what Sasuke can see with his eyes, Kisame had activated his "Frenzy" skill, tripling his vitality, doubles his damage, and increases his attack speed. "To kill you."

And as Sasuke blinked, he nearly lost his head when Kisame had the blades detached, settling for a melee battle against the deadly Assassin.

"Fuck." The Sin-X cursed, getting a cut on his cheek due to the aura surrounding the blade. "Sakura! Stay back!" he told her, the girl nodding and doing what she was told, yet still remained close enough to be able to heal her fiancé and provide needed assistance.

"What's the matter Uchiha?" Kisame taunted, directing one blade to hit Sasuke from the left, and then using the other to attack on the right where Sasuke had moved to. "Is evading all you can do?"

Kisame admitted that this was the best way to wear out his speedy opponent, and when Sasuke finally tires out, that will be the time he'll move in for a close-range combat.

"_It's all in the strategy." _He gave a triumphant snicker when one of the two chained blades had wrapped around Sasuke's leg. He tugged at it, making the Sin-X fall to the ground, afterwards, used the other blade to attack. "It's the end for you, Uchiha!"

The sharp end of the weapon pierced through Sasuke's chest, making him cough out blood as Sakura cried out his name.

"Heh. How disappointing." He withdrew his blade, wiping one of the two clean from the blood, before turning his gaze back at the unmoving Sin-X. "And here I thought you'd be harder to take down." He shook his head. "Truly a disappointment."

"You bet it is."

Kisame's eyes widened when he turned his head to look back over his shoulder, unable to react in time when Sasuke had stabbed his left shoulder with the katana he just got from Tsunade. His dark eyes were shifted to red, revealing the Sharingan, and he used bits of his energy to channel electricity from his body to the blade, numbing Kisame who had fallen to the ground from the sudden impact of the attack.

"H-How…" he spluttered, teeth gritting.

"Ninja technique," Sasuke said. "Cast Off Cicada Shell." He smirked. "The moment you got my leg, I performed the skill and left a clone in order to flee." He pushed the blade deeper. "Looked real, didn't it?" he glared, smirk disappearing and replaced with a scowl. "I'll kill you, I'll kill you and the rest of Akatsuki." He sneered, placing his left palm on the floor as he summoned a puddle of water. "I'll avenge my family, even if it's the last thing I'll do." He brought up his left hand close to his lips, the pointer and middle finger extended out as he gave out an attack in a low voice. "Lightning Crash." And as soon as he uttered the words, he jumped back, using the katana that pierced Kisame as a lightning rod when the lightning struck at him, the sword pierced on his body being used as an absorbent of the attack, causing Kisame to yell out, with the puddle of water he laid on adding additional damage.

If this was in a PVP room, Sasuke would have had to use Final Strike to end the battle, but since this is outside the PVP room, the attacks were real and could literally kill.

When Kisame ceased to move, the Sin-X walked over to the body and pulled out the katana. He sliced the air to get rid of the blood, afterwards, eyed Kisame with a cold glare, Sharingan deactivating as Sakura rushed to him to engulf him in a tight embrace.

"Sakura," he murmured, kissing her forehead lightly after placing one arm around her shoulders. "Come on," he whispered. "We still have a wedding to start and finish."

* * *

"He failed." He scoffed, shaking his head. "Kisame, you fool." He turned his back to the scene and disappeared within the shadows of the trees. "Strategy may be a great deal in a battle, but the element of surprise changes things."

"You have no idea."

Startled, he whipped around to see an incoming dagger coated with poison directed to his chest, and he fell to the ground due to the impact.

"Looks like you ate your words, huh Kakuzu?"

He growled. "I…Itachi..!"

Itachi's dark eyes turned red. "Where are the rest of Akatsuki?"

"Like hell I'd tell you!" he snarled, gurgling out blood.

"You better." The Uchiha said, unmoving while he watched Kakuzu be encased with ice starting from his feet. "Because you'll be facing it off with Phoenix Fire Guild's best interrogator: Morino Ibiki." He smirked, turning back to where his little brother and future little sister were when Kakuzu was completely frozen. "Mizuki, don't you think that was harsh? Doing the process very slow?"

The red-haired, blue-eyed ninja walked over to Itachi and wrapped her arms around him. "I thought you promised never to interfere after almost losing me?"

"That was because I thought I really lost you."

She smiled and turned to where Itachi's gaze was. "Go to him Itachi, I'll take care of Kakuzu." She let him go. "Send me a message when you're done talking to Sasuke."

"Mizuki…" he eyed her. "I'll wait for you at Prontera Church, alright? It's high time we seal this legally."

The woman could only give a warm smile before leaving, taking the frozen Kakuzu with her.

"Here goes." Itachi breathed in, and then exhaled it out before walking out of the shadows, seeing Sasuke stiffen for a second before directing his eyes towards him. "Ototo." He nodded once.

Sakura felt how Sasuke shook slightly and saw his expression before also following his gaze, her own set of emerald orbs widening at the sight of her lover's elder brother.

"Ani…ki…"

Itachi had to smile at that.

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Resistance: Chapter 7: Satan Morroc_

Naruto had to bite his tongue in order to not lash out and instead, let Sasuke do the talking.

"Why did you choose us?"

"Your guild has nearly the complete set of job classes." The King said. "One High Priestess, two Champions, one Paladin, one Gunslinger, two High Wizards, two Snipers, one Gypsy, one Star Gladiator, one Whitesmith," he then stopped his gaze on him. "And you, an Assassin Cross and Ninja in one."

"We only have two people who can support us, and not all of us are experienced enough to take down an MVP monster – especially a creature at the level of Satan Morroc!" Sasuke clenched his fists. "This is a suicide mission, it's like you're actually telling us to get ourselves killed!"

"Is Morroc not your hometown?" the Kind said, turning his back to the Sin-X. "It is, right? Is it the place wherein your clan once lived? Do you not wish to bring justice to the evil that has brought upon the destruction of Morroc – after a thousand years of peace?"

Sakura noticed Sasuke shaking, and she can sense how much anger and sorrow was radiating from his aura.

"Did you not swear to that Akatsuki member that you would avenge your clan?"

"Your highness!" Sakura yelled out. "That was uncalled for! You're only manipulating him!"

"Sakura!"

She turned to Sasuke with wide eyes, surprised that he snapped at her, and also shocked that his eyes had activated the Sharingan, and it was directed at her.

"Don't interfere." He said in a low and warning voice.

* * *

_A/N: Next chapter is sort of a filler, yet contains bits of information that is important for the story. I estimate this to reach until chapter 10 to 12. Ah well._

_I just want to promote my cousin's stories: __**SWAT Delinquents**__ and __**Twisted Apathy**__! His profile link can be found in mine. Also, I'd like to inform all of you of a new story of mine entitled __**Hell High**__, and the much awaited one __**Death Angel**__. Thank you all for putting up with my slow updates! Wait for __**Genjutsu**__, __**Ai no Tsubasa**__, __**Biohazard**__, and __**Crisis Core**__ updates! __**Say it Again**__'s next chapter will be up before November ends. As for __**Confessions of an Uchiha**__, the next story isn't finished yet._


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